The Avatar Strikes Back
by MegaBob452
Summary: A contaminated world, a menaced empire, brought together by mutual interference. A year has passed since the saiyans departed, their actions still leaving their mark on the galaxy at large and one little blue marble in particular. Earth is unprepared for the nightmares ahead, while the Empire finds wonders in an unexpected place.
1. Second Contact

Chapter 1: Second Contact

Hard to believe a year had gone by already.

Fear seemed to be the only thing keeping the peace. Between the disaster that was Ba Sing Se and the widespread devastation during Sozin's Comet, everyone in the world had a reason to fear that such destruction could happen again. Such a possibility had united the world against a common threat, even though that threat had seemingly vanished from the face of the Earth. But that was no reason to get complacent, not when the threat could return just as suddenly as it had left. The world had to be ready, no matter what the stars would throw at them next.

The Fire Nation provided its technological advantage to the Earth Kingdom, which in turn provided the manpower and natural resources to fuel development. The Water Tribes provided healing services when experiments went wrong, and given the need for innovation that was quite often. In the middle of everything the Avatar and his allies tried to keep it all balanced, if only to prevent opposites from killing each other over misunderstandings. Cooperation between nations may be a work in progress, but it was better than the century of war.

Avatar Aang was constantly on the move, heading back and forth across the globe keeping tensions in check. His fourteenth birthday, technically his one hundred and fourteenth if one included the century on ice, had come and gone without notice. There was just so much work to be done that he simply didn't have the time to celebrate, this time he was heading for Ba Sing Se to check in on the reconstruction effort for the city. There were many other places Aang would rather be, but today the city demanded his attention.

Near the end of the war Ba Sing Se had been burned to the ground, among other things. The city's walls remained standing, though each had been breached at one point or another. The palace in the center had been spared, a lone island amid the destruction. Only a fraction of the evacuated population had returned so far, able to reside in the upper and middle rings with plenty of room to spare. Makeshift buildings were scatted across the terrain, along with small plots of land being used to grow crops in what used to be elegant lawns.

Riding on a sky bison Aang's arrival was impossible to miss, having Appa land right in front of the palace with a loud thud announcing his presence to those inside. There Aang took a moment to look back at the upper ring, noticing that the artificial mountain he made a year ago was gone. Earthbenders had put all that rock back into the ground, except for the materials they needed to mend the breach in the innermost wall. Now the terrain was mostly flat around that part of the upper ring, with only a slight discoloration in the wall marking the reconstructed part.

Inside the palace Aang walked to the throne room, repurposed for a general meeting area due to the Earth King still being abroad. Long Feng, the ruler of Ba Sing Se in all but name, was overlooking a large map of the city in the middle of the room. Green sand colored all of the upper ring and most of the middle ring, while spots of red sand in the lower ring marked Fire Nation settlements. Black sand covered areas that were currently uninhabitable, namely the long trench in the western Agrarian Zone and the sinkhole spanning the middle and lower rings.

On opposite sides of Long Feng were Katara and Chief Hakoda, the former representing Aang's interests while the latter provided Water Tribe support. But standing opposite from Long Feng was Azula, and Aang still had trouble getting over how bizarre that looked. She was there to keep Fire Nation forces in line, and as a safeguard to deter the paltry Earth Kingdom forces from retaliating out of spite. These very different people tried to keep the peace, but there was still tension between former enemies. It still surprised Aang that no one had died yet, that he knew of anyway.

"How are things here?" Aang asked while still walking up to the big map.

"We're almost ready to begin resettlement of the lower ring," Long Feng answered. He twiddled his fingers to move some of the green sand around. "We just need enough people to support the expansion. Not enough have returned from the exodus."

"Let me guess, you want the Avatar to tell them to come back here?" Aang speculated.

"More or less," Hakoda confirmed. His gaze was on the Agrarian Zone. "Farmers are what the city needs most. It can't heal on an empty stomach."

"It's too late to get them here for this year's season," Azula pointed out. "The soonest they would get here is right before the harvest, and wouldn't be of any use until spring to plant new crops."

"So were stuck on hold during the winter," Katara mused.

Azula glanced at her. "The other option is to import what the city needs, specifically goods from Fire Nation suppliers and merchants."

"Are the citizens okay with that?" Aang asked.

"I would appreciate it if you talked with them," Long Feng said. He glanced at Azula. "There are some people thinking that letting more of her people in would be the start of a Fire Nation takeover."

"I wish," Azula said. "There are already enough troops in the lower ring to do that. A few more noncombatants won't make a difference."

"Speaking of the troops," Aang said. "How are they getting along?"

"Fine, so far anyway," Katara answered. "They've had plenty of bandits to fight off instead of being tempted to fight the settlers."

"When will those bandits understand that we shouldn't be fighting each other?" Aang wondered aloud. "Don't they know there are bigger problem out there?"

"It's been over a year now," Azula said. "They might think he's never coming back."

"But we don't know where he went," Aang said. "And who knows what else is out there?"

* * *

Hard to believe a galactic standard year had gone by already.

Peace was beginning to crumble all across the empire. The Massacre at Yavin had emboldened the rebel forces, even if the one man responsible for it had never been seen again. The rebels were harassing imperial stations and outposts all across the galaxy, from the Outer Rim to the edges of the Neutral Zone. Even public opinion had shifted in the rebels' favor, in spite of all the propaganda favoring the empire. What had started as a petty insurgency from a few rogue senators was now becoming a real problem, which had to be put down as quickly as possible.

Even though the rebels were becoming a thorn in the empire's side, it was only a matter of time before they were crushed. Of greater concern was the individual that had destroyed the Death Star, who had the sheer raw power to destroy a planet singlehandedly. That kind of threat simply could not be tolerated, and every effort was being made to locate and destroy him. Once that was done it would be a simple matter to raze the unfortunate planet from orbit, and then watch him suffocate in a vacuum, the only way to be sure.

A tracking device had been planted on the threat's ship before he disappeared, though the device had long since ceased transmitting data, likely a result of it being found and destroyed. The last known coordinates had come from a star system right in the middle of the Neutral Zone, all but daring the empire to cross the border and risk all-out war at the worst possible time. Some finesse would be required to confirm the threat's presence in that system, just in case he had left for other empire's territory. Such a task could not be left up to chance.

Darth Vader was in command of a Star Destroyer, the _Stalker_ , personally overseeing today's operation. He stood on the bridge observing the officers and crew at work in the lower pits, preparing the warship for a precise jump through hyperspace. Stealth would be a priority where they were going, hence all the precaution and only this one ship. The warship had to emerge at exactly the right spot, and having the Force at his command tipped the odds in his favor. Darth Vader patiently waited for the preparations to be complete, and then gave the order.

"Take us out."

The stars turned to streaks as the _Stalker_ leapt into hyperspace, entering the blue void and traveling across the cosmos. The trip was a couple of hours, though the time seemed to fly by at a rapid pace. There was plenty of apprehension to spread around amongst the crew, and one didn't have to be Force sensitive to feel it. They were heading straight into the Neutral Zone, where they risked starting a war with another empire on the other side. Many of the bridge crewmen were on edge over this, though none voiced concerns where Darth Vader could hear them.

At the end of the hyperspace jump the _Stalker_ returned to normal space, emerging dangerously close to a star and heading straight towards it. Reverse thrusters were engaged immediately, preventing the ship from plummeting into the star's gravity well. The star filled the view of space ahead of the ship, and the intense light would have blinded the forward sensors if they hadn't been shut down ahead of time. Despite the risk of damage to the ship so close to a star, this was where it was supposed to come out of hyperspace.

Quite pleased with the precise jump, Darth Vader turned to the captain of the _Stalker_. "You have an admirable crew Captain Zed."

"Thank you Lord Vader." Captain Akal Zed was always eager to please the empire, and he knew his crew would not fail him. "Bring the rear sensors online. Let's see the planet."

The main view screen above the front windows brought up the perspective from behind the ship, at first showing only distant stars that were dimmed by the nearby star's radiance. The view was magnified and a small terrestrial planet appeared, the near side completely lit by its sun. A single continent dominated most of the daytime hemisphere, was surrounded by vast oceans, had thick ice caps at the poles, and plenty of cloud cover obscuring the finer details. Behind the planet was a barren moon, unremarkable except for how large it was relative to its planet.

At first glance it looked like an ideal colony world. Captain Zed could already picture the vast civilization that would one day serve the empire. "Set course for the planet's night side."

The _Stalker_ turned around and the main engines ignited, taking the ship away from the star at its best sub-light speed. For most of the journey the ship did not take the direct route to the planet, instead heading on a vector that kept the star between the ship and the far side of the border. That would block most passive scans from the other side, as the ship would be lost behind the glare of the star. When the ship reached the planet's orbit it made a sharp turn, then quickly got to the night side and was shrouded in the planet's shadow.

When they arrived Captain Zed looked at his superior. "Anything?"

Darth Vader looked at the planet through the window, sensing the native populace in the Force, and the absence of something greater. "He is not here."

That was all the confirmation Captain Zed needed. "Alright men, begin the calculations. We're heading out as soon as the hyperspace drive is ready."

"Wait," Darth Vader ordered, hold up one hand. He then seemed to be lost in a trance, but came out of it after a moment. "There is something strange about this world. It's presence in the Force is different, in a manner that I am not familiar."

Normally a skeptic regarding such a thing, Captain Zed knew better than to question it in front of Darth Vader. "I'll send a shuttle down to investigate."

* * *

It was a beautiful night in the Fire Nation, clear skies leaving the nearly full moon and the stars in a spectacular view of the heavens. A year ago a night sky like this would have been an inspiration for wondrous things, sparking the imagination of what might exist in the unknown. Now the stars in the night sky were seen with suspicion and fear, as there were dangers lurking in the unknown. On Earth the people were preparing for the next encounter, even if they could not know when it would come or what form it would take.

Most of the Fire Nation's capital city had been rebuilt since the battle during Sozin's Comet, when the vast majority of the city had been burned to the ground in a battle between royal siblings. The new palace was still under construction, this time being built right into the western caldera rim. It was scheduled to be complete in another year, and when finished the palace would more closely resemble a fortress. Only the ground floor was finished and occupied, the rest was a framework of tall spires attached to the wall of volcanic rock.

Near the northern edge of the caldera was the capital's research and development lab, Sokka's preferred location whenever he visited the capital. It was a large building with several underground levels, all divided into small rooms for different purposes. Sokka was currently in the third level, where the reverse engineering efforts were underway. Scientists here were attempting to understand the alien items acquired over a year ago, the first step to recreating them for humanity to use. Given the immense task at hand, very little progress had been made.

Sokka had just entered when he spotted one researcher at a table. "What have you got Chan?"

"Well…" Chan said, not bothering to turn around. "It appears to run on some form of electricity."

Although barely seventeen, Chan had shown potential in understanding the alien items. He had been the one to figure out that washing alien fabric in water ruined its elasticity, figuring that it had to be cleaned in a special way to avoid that. Unfortunately he hadn't been able to figure how to properly wash it, and all four sets of fabric had deteriorated into scraps several months ago. The armor, gloves, and boots that had come with the fabric remained intact, but had to be worn over normal clothes instead.

Right now Chan was examining one of the alien weapons Mai had secured, having the blaster on the table with a wire frame holding it at chest level. The side of the weapon was removed and the internal components exposed, most of them being wires and small glowing tubes. There was a dull hum coming from inside, just barely louder than a whisper. Next to the weapon were sketches of the weapon's interior, detailing all the pieces from all the different angles available. Besides Chan and Sokka, everyone was keeping their distance and outride avoiding the blaster's business end.

Sokka stood beside Chan and took a look. "Is that the power source?"

A finger was pointed a glowing red tube in the middle, and Chan nodded. "It has to be. Watch this."

Chan reached for the weapon and wrapped his fingers around the trigger, and checked the line of fire for safety's sake before he squeezed. The weapon fired an energy blast at a target, blasting a hole in a steel plate that was hanging on a wall. At the same time the red tube glowed brighter, and many of the wires glowed red with it. After the shot the red glow returned to the way it was before, as if waiting for another shot to be fired. Chan fired another shot and got the same results, the red tube glowing bright while firing.

"Neat," Sokka said. He leaned forward over the table and nearly buried his nose in the components while looking at them up close. "Any other insights?"

"I think we could build new ones… eventually," Chan said. He looked over some of the sketches on the table. "If we could figure out what those parts are made out of."

Sokka took a few steps back and then looked at Chan. "Do you have any idea how much time we will need to do it?"

Chan snorted and shrugged. "Not a clue. Could be only years, could be decades, could be centuries. I just don't know enough yet."

"None of us do," Sokka admitted. "Just keep working on it."

Just then a messenger arrived. "Sorry to intrude Sokka, but Ruon-Jian wants to see you immediately. He says it's very urgent."

"On my way," Sokka said.

Half a mile away, on the outer side of the caldera, was a brand new observatory. A large domed building stood just taller than the caldera rim, and a large telescope was sticking out of the top and pointed at the heavens. The top of the dome could turn and point the telescope at any place in the night sky, offering a better look at the northern stars. The observatory was the only kind of early warning system available, watching the stars for any unwanted visitors approaching, despite the long odds of anything being exactly where the telescope was pointed.

Inside the observatory Ruon-Jian was looking through the telescope, and when he heard the door open he turned towards it and saw Sokka. "We have a problem."

Sokka just closed the door and started walking towards Ruon-Jian. "What is it?"

Ruon-Jian stepped away from the telescope. "You had better see for yourself."

Sokka looked into the telescope, seeing a small portion of the night sky. The stars there were in full view, currently centered on the three in Noren's Belt. But there was something else inside the constellation, something that could not possibly be mistaken for another star. It was a vessel shaped like a long and thick triangle, but with a large tower sticking up at the rear end. It had to have been at least two miles long and half as wide at the rear, if his guesses could be relied upon without something to provide a sense of scale.

But there was one guess he could be certain of. "That's a ship."

"So I wasn't hallucinating," Ruon-Jian said.

Dread was written all over Sokka's face as he looked back. "We're not ready."

* * *

Captain Zed had just entered the _Stalker_ 's hangar, where the transport shuttles were docked alongside a compliment of Tie Fighters hanging from a long wall, as well as other vehicles needed to wage war. One of the shuttles was being prepared for launch, almost fully fueled and just about ready to go. Half a dozen stormtroopers were boarding the shuttle, a little bit of security just in case the locals were hostile. Captain Zed approached a young officer standing next to a console, looking at a display of the planet's night side.

"Ensign Arnet," Captain Zed said, stopping beside the ensign, holding his hands behind his back. "How long until you can depart?"

"Another ten minutes sir," Arnet answered. "Any new orders?"

"Yes," Captain Zed confirmed. "Lord Vader desires a change to the standard First Contact protocol. You will require different landing coordinates."

Arnet pointed at the display, specifically the largest island in the volcanic chain. "So I won't be approaching the largest urban center?"

"Not this time," Captain Zed said. He pointed at a settlement on the edge of the northern ice cap. "You're to make contact there."

"A small, isolated part of the planet," Arnet described. "Do you expect the locals to be more docile over there?"

"I don't know what to expect," Captain Zed admitted, not sure why Darth Vader wanted the first landing there. "Stay alert. Be ready for anything. Dismissed."

"Understood," Arnet acknowledged.

When the shuttle was ready for takeoff Arnet boarded it, heading for the cockpit as the entrance ramp was closed. He took a seat behind the pilot, informing him of the change in destination as the final preflight checks were completed. The hangar doors were opened and the shuttle took off, slowly passing through the atmospheric force fields and out of the hangar. In open space the shuttle's lower wings moved into flight position, the engines throttled to a full burn for speed, and the three winged craft flew down towards the planet.

During the flight Arnet got a good long look at the planet, examining the features present through the forward window. Although only the night side of the planet was in view, one could still make an educated guess about what they might find down there. A lack of artificial light from the surface implied that the locals were preindustrial, or at least before the mass production of electrical lighting. He expected a primitive culture to be waiting down there, one that would be easy to manipulate into serving the empire's needs.

Turbulent winds shook the shuttle when it hit atmosphere, and the ride through it was a bumpy one. Over the planet's northern pole the view was soon occupied by vast ice sheets, enormous fields of white passing by underneath as the shuttle flew down and then to the south. The shuttle was slowing down when it reached the end of the ice sheet, passing over the open ocean for the last few miles of its descent. Banking left turned the shuttle around to approach the glacial settlement, coming at it from the obvious front side.

"Take us down in that clearing," Arnet said, pointing at an open space in the middle of the settlement. "It's as good a spot as any."

The shuttle slowed to a casual pace as it passed into the settlement's airspace, passing over an ice wall that sheltered the settlement from the tides, which had to be a considerable and consistent problem here given the large moon. Forward motion stopped at the chosen landing site, and the shuttle gently descended toward it. The two lower wings folded up into their landing position, and the shuttle's landing gear was deployed. The shuttle touched down on the icy surface, facing a dense gathering of the locals.

"Quite the crowd out there," the pilot said, looking out the front window.

"Not very welcoming either," Arnet said, judging by the mixed expressions he saw out there. "Still, a good first impression can make all the difference."

* * *

To say the mood was tense would be an understatement.

Although the Northern Water Tribe had largely been spared from the devastation one year ago, the stories from the other nations had long since reached the ears of the tribe. When the foreign craft appeared in the night sky there had nearly been a widespread panic attack, stopped only by the actions of the tribe's leaders keeping the populace calm. But one wrong move could easily change that, especially as the foreign craft came in for a landing in the middle of the frozen city. Already there was a crowd forming, and the next few moments would be critical.

Standing in one of the ice palace's upper floors, Chief Arnook was watching through a window. "Well… at least it's being gentle this time."

At the next window over, the Fire Nation Ambassador Qin saw the same sight. "This isn't how it happened before?"

"Nothing like it," Arnook answered, remembering that rather violent arrival. "The last one crashed, this one is landing."

The crowd was quickly growing around the landing craft, most of the people gathering in front of it. There were looks of awe, looks of fear, looks of suspicion, all in wonder of what might be inside. Within the crowd was Prince Zuko, here to assist in keeping good relations between the tribe and the Fire Nation. Zuko stepped ahead of the crowd as the craft opened up, seeing a ramp open and make contact with the ice. His eyes narrowed while looking into the landed craft, waiting to see what might come out and what the occupants might do.

The first to appear from the craft looked human enough, albeit wearing a gray uniform Zuko was unfamiliar with. "Greetings," the officer said, putting his hands together. "I am Ensign Arnet, and I wish to welcome your world to the peace and prosperity of galactic civilization."

That statement sounded far too good to be true, and for Zuko that was all he needed. He clenched his left fist, swung it up, and hurled fire at Arnet, burning into his chest and knocking him down.

"Board that ship!" Zuko commanded. He spotted troops in white armor coming out of the craft, and heard the sound of waterbending behind him. "Take everything you can!"

Six troops had emerged from the ship, wielding strange weapons held with both hands. But the water from two dozen waterbenders was already in motion, many sets of hoses spraying directly at the troops. The strange weapons each got off a single shot before their wielders were hit with water, six green bolts going into the crowd while the troops were struck down. The water picked up the troops and hurled them into their craft, freezing into ice and binding them to the hull, stopping them from firing their weapons again.

The crowd then rushed towards the craft, trampling over the fallen yet still breathing body of Arnet. They ran up the ramp three at a time, the most it could accommodate at any time. In moments there were dozens of people inside, taking everything they could find that wasn't bolted down. They came out with another half dozen of the strange weapons, many smaller items that they couldn't identify, and packets containing something that felt like food. They also hauled out someone that appeared to be a pilot, kept alive for questioning.

Zuko walked up the ramp, and made his way to the front and the cockpit. He couldn't make heads or tails of the controls, so he didn't dare touch them yet. "Alright, let's see what we have here."


	2. Emissary

Chapter 2: Emissary

"Ensign Arnet has not reported in."

In the _Stalker_ 's meeting room, Captain Zed did not like the news. If the ensign had not reported in it must have meant that he _couldn't_ report in, and that usually meant that something had gone wrong. It could be nothing more than a malfunctioning transmitter, but that was just a hopeful fantasy. Worst case scenario was that the locals had attacked and subdued him, and if that was the case it meant that the locals were more formidable than were expected. It certainly warranted a change of plans, hence this meeting with his officers.

Currently sitting in his favorite chair in his office, Captain Zed leaned back and put his hands together. "Options?"

"The shuttle's transmitter is still online," one officer reported. "We could call, see if anyone answers."

"Very well," Captain Zed said. He turned to the holographic projector to his right. "Set it up in here. I'll talk to whoever decides to answer."

* * *

Zuko was personally overseeing the examination of the captured alien craft, which seemed to be some kind of transport shuttle. He stood inside the shuttle's cockpit, looking through the window at the tribesmen examining the stuff they took out earlier. Around Zuko more tribesmen were taking sketches of the controls, keeping track of all the current positions of the knobs and switches for when the time came to tinker with them. Zuko didn't have a clue on what any of it did, but then again this wasn't his area of expertise.

"Has the hawk been sent?" Zuko asked, facing a courier that had entered the cockpit.

"Yes sir," the courier answered. "Along with three backup hawks, just in case something happens."

"Good," Zuko said.

The courier nodded, and quickly left the shuttle. He was soon replaced by Chief Arnook, ever curious about the contraption in his city. "Any progress?"

"None of any value," Zuko answered, getting somewhat frustrated over that fact. "Once the best minds get on this we shou- what is that noise?"

A high pitched beeping sound had interrupted Zuko, and it was coming from the controls. Arnook looked over Zuko's shoulder and saw a flashing blue light, coming from a button next to a small pad. "Is that what's causing it?"

Zuko leaned closer and listened, quickly becoming certain that the flashing button was the source of the beeping sound. "Looks like it."

"What do you think it does?" Arnook wondered.

"Only one way to find out," Zuko said, right before he pressed the flashing button.

The circular pad lit up and projected blue light into the space above it, taking the form of a man sitting in a chair. _"About time you- oh, you're not Arnet."_

"What sorcery is this?" Zuko blurted out.

" _Science, though I wouldn't expect someone in your position to understand."_ The little man folded his hands. _"Where are my manners? I believe an introduction is in order. I am Captain Akal Zed."_

"Zuko." He crossed his arms and glared at the captain. "What do you want?"

" _Ah but don't you see, it isn't what I want,"_ Captain Zed said. _"Rather, it's what you want. Do you want to avert a conflict before it begins? Do you want to ensure peace between your world and the Empire? Do you want the prosperity I can provide?"_

"I'm finding it difficult to believe you," Zuko admitted.

Captain Zed chuckled at that remark. _"Yes, I suppose you do have no reason to believe me. And I suppose you never will unless we speak in person."_

"And how would that happen?" Zuko asked.

" _With a show of good faith,"_ Captain Zed answered. _"Just follow my instructions, and the shuttle you're in will take you to my ship."_

"Like I'm going to trust that suggestion," Zuko said.

" _What will it take to convince you otherwise?"_ Captain Zed asked.

"Insurance," Zuko suggested. "The soldiers that were on this ship, we'll be keeping them here."

" _Have they been harmed?"_ Captain Zed inquired.

"They'll live," Zuko answered, not wanting to see a reaction to learning about the burn on that ensign's chest. "If this is a trick, that can change."

" _The terms are acceptable,"_ Captain Zed said.

Before going through with the deal, Zuko asked Chief Arnook and the other tribesmen to leave first. Chief Arnook readily agreed to that idea, wanting to have no business in whatever place the shuttle would go. However Zuko had no intention of going up there alone, asking for Ambassador Qin to join him on this voyage, along with half a dozen waterbenders loaded with as many full waterskins as they could carry. Qin seemed eager to take part, if only to see what other gadgets could be found and reverse engineered.

It turned out that the instructions to use the shuttle were rather simple. Captain Zed walked Zuko through the steps to engage the shuttle's autopilot, consisting of a series of button presses and turned knobs. Despite having been told what would happen beforehand, the waterbenders aboard were shocked when the shuttle lifted off all on its own. It was quite discomforting for Zuko despite his efforts to hide it, watching the ice move away as the shuttle ascended, and feeling his stomach fall away with the ice.

" _Just sit back and enjoy the ride,"_ Captain Zed said, now that the shuttle was in flight. Then the blue light disappeared, cutting off contact with the man talking from somewhere else.

"What now?" Qin asked, sitting in one of the seats and holding on with both hands.

The shuttle turned, and Zuko saw something in the starlit sky. "I think we're going there."

The shuttle's autopilot guided it to the orbiting Star Destroyer, going straight for the opening hangar doors without hesitation. Both Zuko and Qin had difficulty believing just how big that ship was, for it dwarfed even the mighty airships that the Fire Nation employed by orders of magnitude. Going into the hangar was like getting swallowed by some massive metal monster, at least to the more superstitious waterbenders aboard. The shuttle came to a landing in the hangar, and the entrance ramp opened for them automatically.

When Zuko exited the shuttle he was met by a hundred of those same soldiers that had come to Earth in the shuttle, all aiming those alien weapons at him and the people he brought with him. Qin took a step back when he saw the weapons, and the waterbenders looked ready to attack at the slightest provocation. Zuko kept his cool and approached the soldiers directly ahead, making no gestures that could appear to be hostile. Instead he put on an air of authority only a royal prince could make, so that he might appear to be an equal to whoever was in charge here.

"Please, take me to your leader."

* * *

Back on Earth Avatar Aang had just received a most disturbing message via hawk, one that he had wished would never come. It was late in the evening at Ba Sing Se when Aang received the message, and he read it in the light of the setting sun. The observatory in the Fire Nation had found something in the night sky, something that had not been there the night before. Aang had wanted to believe that this was a mistake, that there really wasn't an alien ship visiting Earth. It didn't matter that Aang trusted the source, but rather he just didn't want to believe this was real.

A second message dashed away that desire, a message that confirmed an extraterrestrial visit. This one had come from the Northern Water Tribe, describing the alien shuttle that had landed just last night. There was no denying the reality now, that there were aliens here once again. The last time this happened the alien had promised to help, yet everywhere he went there was only destruction. Earth had yet to fully recover from the last visit, and it was far too soon to be ready for a second. Aang knew that they would have to proceed carefully, or risk losing everything.

First Aang wanted to confirm the first message with his own eyes, and so he took Appa to another observatory here in the Earth Kingdom. This one had been built on the easternmost portion of the outer wall, near the spot where the wall touched the eastern seas. Like others across the world this observatory had been built by the Fire Nation, having the best expertise when it came to studying the heavens. Appa landed right outside the domed building and Aang walked inside, spotting the two girls that were tasked with training Earth Kingdom volunteers in astronomy.

Aang knew the names and faces of Mai and Ty Lee, but didn't know much else about them. "I need to borrow the telescope."

"Good to see you too," Mai said, standing near the entrance while Aang came inside. She was wearing the space armor she acquired a year ago, but now had to wear her regular clothes underneath the armor. "Where do you want it pointed?"

"Here," Aang said, handing Mai a note that had come with the message.

"Noren's Belt," Mai muttered, recognizing that constellation from the note. "Ty Lee, get the grunts turning this thing. We've got work to do."

"Sure thing," Ty Lee said, standing next to the telescope. Like Mai she had her space armor on, finding it comfortable with her usual pink outfit underneath. "We'll get it done just in time for night."

It took about ten minutes to get the telescope moved into position, and Aang patiently waited for Mai and Ty Lee and their volunteers to get the job done. Then he had to wait another half hour for the sun to completely set, bringing on the night for a proper view of the heavens. Only then could Aang take a look through the telescope, seeing the stars of the constellation Noren's Belt. In between the three main stars there was the triangle shaped object described in the message, seemingly just sitting there in the night sky.

After seeing it for himself, Aang backed away from the telescope and looked at Mai again. "Keep watching that thing up there. If it moves, send a hawk right away."

Mai took a look through the telescope, and quickly pulled her head away. "Yeah, I see why."

Aang was already on the move, immediately heading for the door to get outside. He jumped back on Appa and got the sky bison into the air, heading straight for the palace as fast as Appa could fly. It took several minutes to make that short journey, and when they had arrived Appa landed in front of the main doors at the top of the large steps. From there Aang ran into the palace, ignoring everyone he saw until he reached the throne room. He ran through the open doors and hurried inside, and saw a meeting already in progress.

Inside he found Long Feng and Katara waiting, along with an Azula who looked like she had just been about to go to bed. It looked like Hakoda wasn't in the palace right now, so Aang got to business without him. "I just got back from the observatory."

"Was the message accurate?" Azula asked.

"Afraid so," Aang answered. "So what are we going to do?"

"What exactly _can_ we do?" Katara specified. "It's not like we can go up there."

"I already have the Dai Li mobilizing," Long Feng said. "If there's an invasion of this city, we'll make sure they bleed for it."

"We don't even know what they want," Azula pointed out. "We should figure that out first."

"And in the meantime, get ready in case we don't like what they want," Aang said. "I'm open to any other suggestions."

"We'll need to come up with a standard greeting," Azula suggested. "Something to convince them that we're not worth their time invading."

"I think it's too late for that," Katara said. "I'm sure your brother spoiled it already, judging by the message we got from the North Pole."

As if on cue, a messenger barged into the throne room. "Urgent news from the Water Tribe."

Azula put one hand on her face. "What did Zuko do now?"

* * *

The Earth was beautiful.

Sure only a third of the daylight side could be seen from here, being high above a part of the world in early evening right now. The middle part of the Earth Kingdom continent could be seen, from the Northern Air Temple all the way down to Gaoling in the south and the Si Wong Desert in between. It put things in a whole new perspective. Every person that had ever lived, every royal and commoner, every general and civilian, every Fire Lord and Avatar, had all been down there, on the only place they had ever called home.

Zuko wished he could look at it forever. "This makes it all worthwhile."

He was looking out a window from inside a meeting room aboard the ship, which he had been told was a Star Destroyer class warship. It was a quite impressive craft just from seeing a small fraction of the interior, though Zuko's gut told him that the name was an exaggeration to frighten whatever enemies it came across. This meeting room was on the starboard side of the ship, and the window offered the view of the Earth that was both inspiring and humbling at the same time. Coming up here was worth it, if only to see the Earth like this.

Across the room at one end of a long table, Captain Zed had taken a seat. "I remember my first time seeing my home planet from orbit. It was one of the biggest moments of my life."

"I can't help but feel really small," Zuko admitted.

"That's normal," Captain Zed said. He gestured to a chair on his right, in between the table and another window. "Please, have a seat so we can discuss things like civilized people."

After looking at Earth one more time, Zuko walked over to the table and took the offered seat. "Alright, I suppose you want your people back first?"

"In good time," Captain Zed assured. He poured two cups of coffee for himself and his guest, doing it himself instead of a droid to avoid explaining that to a local. "But first, I think you should know the answer to a burning question. Why are we here?"

"Looks like an invasion to me," Zuko said.

Captain Zed laughed while he passed a cup to Zuko. "Oh my no… If this was an invasion we wouldn't be talking right now. Quite to the contrary, invading your planet would not be in the Empire's interest."

Zuko accepted the cup and glanced at the dark drink inside, wondering if it was some kind of space tea. "Alright, I'll bite, why are you here?"

"We are here…" Captain Zed tapped a few buttons on the table, and a small blue hologram appeared. "…to find this man."

The hologram was of a rather short person, judging by the ratio between height and width. He had spiky hair that pointed straight up, and a stern face that suggested he would kill someone just for looking at him the wrong way. He was wearing some kind of form fitting fabric, along with chest armor that came with shoulder straps. Zuko didn't recognize the person in the hologram, but he was very familiar with the armor that man was wearing. Sokka had recovered a set nearly identical to it, as well as someone else using another set.

Captain Zed noticed a twinge of recognition. "He has been here, about a year ago?"

"Not this one," Zuko corrected. "But there was another in a similar outfit."

"Could you describe it?" Captain Zed asked.

"Taller, spikier hair, not very bright," Zuko described, wishing he had paper and ink to draw him. "He claimed that he wanted to help us, but everything he did only made things worse."

"What happened?" Captain Zed asked, intrigued by this description.

"Just look out that window," Zuko said, pointing a thumb over his shoulder. "You can see the scars from up here. He wrecked my home and left without an explanation."

Captain Zed nodded, having seen the sensor readings of damage that had been assumed to be caused by meteor impacts. "Well now I understand your reaction to our shuttle. You were burned once and assumed we were going to do the same."

"Would you have done differently?" Zuko asked.

"I suppose not," Captain Zed said. He pressed another button and the hologram vanished. "We had a similar experience to yours. The man we search for interfered with our Empire, setting our efforts back years, and left before we could demand reparations."

"You better not say we have a common enemy," Zuko said. "We've been doing that for the last year, and it is barely holding things together."

"I wouldn't dream of dragging you into our fight," Captain Zed said. "All I ask is that you provide all information your people have acquired from your previous encounter. Anything could be useful in determining where they went or how to eliminate them."

Zuko rested his elbows on the table and folded his hands. "Now why didn't you start with that?"

* * *

It was early in the afternoon when the news reached the Fire Lord.

"What has that fool done?!"

Fire Lord Ozai was not happy. Granted, he rarely had reason to be happy throughout the last year. Every single day he considered ending the treaty that had halted the war, and then finally take the rest of the world that was within his grasp. But every single time it was always necessity that stayed his hand, necessity that all nations work together to prepare for the day when the alien threat would return. It was just so infuriating to be so close to making the entire world Fire Nation, yet not be able to actually finish that goal.

And now his son was possibly jeopardizing everything. A different alien threat was now lurking in the night sky, biding its time before an inevitable invasion. So far knowledge of its existence had been keep within the smallest of circles, and the general public was kept blissfully unaware to avoid a panic followed by the inevitable riots. But Ozai knew that the secrecy was not going to last very long, as such things always did, and once someone started talking about how Zuko was up there it might as well throw everything away.

In his brand new throne room in the still unfinished palace Ozai was taking steps in preparation for the worst, assuming that his son was going to screw it up for everyone. He was speaking with his top general Shinu and the Earth Kingdom's representative Lao Bei Fong, whom Ozai got the vibe of Fire from in spite of his earthen lineage. They had all just been briefed on the situation at the Northern Water Tribe, learning that Zuko had allowed the alien shuttle to take him up to the larger vessel in the sky, when he had no right to do so.

"Maybe he thinks he can broker a deal?" Lao suggested, sitting across from Shinu at a map of the world, eyes firmly on the Fire Lord.

"He doesn't have the authority to make such a deal," Shinu said. He looked at Ozai in his throne. "Or have you changed your mind about him and not told anyone?"

"No," Ozai firmly stated. "Zuko remains in exile, and I will not have him make matters worse than they already are. If a deal is to be made with this new threat, I will be the one to make it."

For some time the three of them discussed what such a deal would look like, assuming that it could be made at all with an unknown adversary that might be open to reason. Eventually they settled on a starting point in negotiations, being that the Fire Nation should get preferential treatment in whatever plans the threat had for the Earth. But the odds of getting that far were slim, even they could realize that. But it was the best they were ever going to get, as far as Ozai could anticipate without more information on the visitors.

As if to correct that oversight, a courier ran into the throne room with a message in hand. "My Lord, it's urgent."

Ozai took the message and read it, his eyes widening in alarm. "What?!"

Immediately Ozai was on his feet and on his way out the door, which was solid steel instead of the curtain that the old palace had. Ozai kept his pace quick but restrained, giving a sense of urgency but not haste to the workers still hard at work constructing the new palace. Right behind him Shinu and Lao passed through the halls into the entrance chamber, complete but lacking the appropriate furnishings on the walls. Ozai walked through the large doors of the main entrance, heading into the palace courtyard just outside.

Dozens of palace guards had assembled in the courtyard, standard protocol when something unexpected was happening in the capital. Beyond the courtyard past a low wall hundreds of civilians had gathered in the city streets, all of them looking up at something in the morning sky. Ozai looked up at the eastern sky and saw what was causing the commotion, a vessel that matched the shuttle described in the message from the North Pole. It was back, steadily flying towards the incomplete palace.

Just behind the Fire Lord, Lao saw the incoming shuttle. "What do we do?"

Beside him Shinu kept calm in the face of impending danger. "What are your orders?"

Ozai didn't say a word, not when he wasn't sure what to say. His gaze was fixed on the incoming shuttle, which was slowing down as it flew over the city. It stopped moving forward when it was above the courtyard, and then slowly descended toward the ground. The lower wings folded up as the shuttle prepared for landing, descending into a clear space between palace guards and the civilian crowd. The shuttle was facing the palace when it touched down, and Ozai watched its entrance ramp open to let the passengers out.

The first ones out of the shuttle were half a dozen soldiers, wearing the same white armor described in the Water Tribe message. They were followed by a pair of men in simple gray uniforms, who stepped ahead of the soldiers now standing in two lines of three. Those two in gray appeared to be officers in command of the shuttle, and they made eye contact with Ozai before looking back into the shuttle. Someone wearing far more familiar red clothes emerged, and there was no mistaking that particular scarred face.

Zuko crossed his arms, deeply enjoying the look of surprise on Ozai's face. "I'm back."

* * *

On the _Stalker_ 's bridge Darth Vader was standing next to the windows, looking out into space and at the nearby planet taking up most of the view. He ignored the work of the bridge crew behind and below him, letting them do their jobs without him micromanaging. Standing very still with his arms crossed, his only sound being his breathing apparatus, Darth Vader put the conscious world aside and let the Force flow through him. The very fabric of the universe itself became his senses, at least this small corner of it anyway.

Within the Force the planet felt like the classical elements had been brought to life, each with a distinct sensation tied to each of the four. Fluid like water, solid like earth, burning like fire, blowing like air, and all interacting with one another. But there was a ripple in the Force here, the aftereffect of two powerful individuals, one familiar and one unknown. Even now, when the two were long gone from this world, they still left a disturbance in the Force here. It may diminish over time, as this world recovered, but the mark left behind would never truly disappear, from memory or the Force.

Darth Vader's sight was drawn away from the planet, towards the star and the space beyond it. That was where the threat to the Empire had gone, across the border and well into foreign space. And it was far beyond Darth Vader's reach, as trespassing even this far into the Neutral Zone risked starting a war. That was why the _Stalker_ was flying in a slow retrograde orbit to stay above the night side, keeping the planet and its star towards the far side of the border to block passive scans from there. But the longer they remained here, the more likely an active scan might detect them.

Yet coming from the space he could not enter, Darth Vader felt a strain on the Force. It was like being ready to watch a fireworks display, knowing in advance the explosions that would light up the sky. Darth Vader had experienced this feeling in the Force before, right before the Clone Wars began and right before the birth of the Empire. It was like the Force itself knew when there would be a great change in the cosmos, a strain on the universe itself that stretched everything before the time when it would inevitably snap.

Returning to reality, Darth Vader turned to the sensor officer on the bridge. "Deploy a stealth probe across the border. Tap into any communication networks on the other side. I want to know what is going on over there."

The sensor officer knew better than to voice any concerns, already complying with the order. "As you command, my Lord."

From the _Stalker_ 's underside a small black sphere was launched, quickly coming into view from the bridge once it cleared the side of the ship. Against the black void of space the probe was barely visible, until it eclipsed the planet as it went around the obstacle. Once the probe was clear of the planet it disappeared into hyperspace, beginning its one-way trip into unknown territory. Already the probe was returning telemetry to the _Stalker_ , transmitting what little data that could be collected during a hyperspace jump.

There was a risk that the probe would be detected on the other side, that possibility could not be denied. Stealth probes were constructed from the most generic parts that could do the job, ensuring that they would be difficult to trace back to their source. And even if it was found, any tampering would trigger a self-destruct mechanism. Those small safeguards made the probe worth the risk to Darth Vader, considering what he had felt through the Force. Something was going to change over there, something that would affect that part of the galactic map.

Looking back out into space, Darth Vader reached into the Force again. "Whatever happens, I will be ready."


	3. Reconstruction

Chapter 3: Reconstruction

"How many times do I have to say this?"

Zuko was getting quite frustrated with his old man now, and everyone knew it. Here he was with the opportunity of a lifetime, and he wasn't being taken seriously. All on the grounds that he was a banished prince, as if that was the only thing that mattered here. Never mind the space shuttle that he had arrived in, the stormtroopers and officers accompanying him, or the offer their Empire had made. No no, the fact that Zuko had never fulfilled the terms of his banishment was all that Fire Lord Ozai seemed to care about.

It had been half an hour since the shuttle landed in the capital, and Zuko was in the palace's throne room with Ozai. Lao and Shinu were sitting beside the Fire Lord, while Sokka and Toph had arrived shortly after the shuttle had landed. The latter two were skeptical about everything Zuko had told them, while Ozai seemed to disregard the whole thing just because it was Zuko speaking. Having just finished going through it all twice and clarifying several things, Zuko slammed his fist on the map of the world they had all gathered around.

"They don't give a damn about us!" Zuko yelled. "All they want is the information we've collected from the first time. Once they have it they will leave, and hopefully succeed in destroying our enemy along with theirs."

Sokka, sitting at Zuko's right, was still skeptical about everything he had just heard. "And that's what they told you?"

Toph, at Zuko's left, wasn't sure what to think. "Look, Zuko, I believe what you're saying, but I can't believe them until I meet them personally."

"I'll bring you along next time," Zuko promised.

"Still, do you trust them?" Sokka asked.

"Of course not," Zuko admitted. He waved a hand across the world map. "But one thing is obvious. If they were going to invade they would have done so already. I'm inclined to believe that they really are after someone else instead of us."

"So you say," Ozai muttered.

"Yes, so I say," Zuko said, glaring at his father. "You still don't believe me."

"I have no reason to," Ozai said. His eyes narrowed as he glared back. "How do you expect us to trust the message when we can't trust the messenger?"

Zuko couldn't help but pinch his nose at that remark. "You're really going to do this?"

"Looks like it," Toph said, knowing that the Fire Lord wasn't going to budge on this.

Ozai ignored her, instead rising to his feet, recalling the last time his son had insulted him. "You know how this will end, just as it did before."

"Not this time," Zuko muttered, barely audible even to those that were right beside him. Then he stood up, and raised his voice to be absolutely clear. "Fire Lord Ozai, for the restoration of my honor, I challenge you to Agni Kai."

* * *

In his private quarters aboard the _Stalker_ , Captain Zed was sitting at his desk working on his personal computer terminal. He was reviewing the intel already provided by Zuko during his brief visit, finding it very insightful to the locals' behavior. It seemed that their last alien encounter had abruptly ended a worldwide war, one that had been fought for a hundred local years all across the planet. All that aggression the locals had was now directed outward, rather than against each other fighting over a single world.

It was hard to imagine what the locals had gone through, fighting a single continuous war for a century. The biggest war in the galaxy's living memory was the Clone Wars, the conflict that transformed the Galactic Republic into the Galactic Empire, had only lasted for three standard years. Sure it was bigger by several orders of magnitude, encompassing large swaths of the galaxy, but was gratefully short. This war the locals had fought, over one measly little blue marble, had been older than the vast majority of its population. Contrary to most worlds in the galaxy, here War was the norm and Peace the anomaly.

Only the general outline of that hundred year war had been provided, and it had Zed seriously reconsidering the options for dealing with this planet. If the locals were willing to fight each other for so long, there was no doubt that they would fight invaders even longer. Therefore the olive branch was the far more practical choice, if the empire was going to have a lasting presence here. It was far more desirable for a new world to willingly join the empire, rather than take it by force and possibly ruin it in the process.

Zed tapped the comlink on his desk. "Put me through to Imperial Supply."

" _Acknowledged."_

The comm officer on the bridge rerouted Zed's signal through the _Stalker_ 's main array, sending a transmission deep into imperial space. Soon the image on the screen was replaced by an elderly gentleman, who sighed before talking. _"Imperial Supply, Quartermaster speaking, what do you want?"_

"One relief convoy dispatched to these coordinates," Zed answered, transmitting the _Stalker_ 's current location. "Take the funds from the usual place."

Receiving the coordinates at his end, the Quartermaster frowned at the location. _"Yeah, there's going to be a problem here. No transport is going to travel there."_

"Authorization code nine three alpha one one three eight," Zed said.

" _Confirming code… and… request denied,"_ the Quartermaster said. _"Your clearance level isn't high enough to send imperial ships into the Neutral Zone."_

"For _imperial_ ships maybe," Zed specified. "I was thinking more along the lines of smugglers. Let's outsource this to people that ship things through forbidden territory for a living."

There was a pause on the other end, with the Quartermaster thinking about that idea. He made a couple of keystrokes, and then nodded. _"It may take some time to arrange the transport."_

"Take as much as you need," Zed said with a nod. "Let me know when the first shipment is ready for transport."

" _Of course,"_ the Quartermaster said. _"Imperial Supply out."_

The image on the computer screen went black, and then displayed a timestamp of that communication. Zed then went back to reviewing the local intel, now thinking of how best to distribute the relief effort once the first convoy arrived. Smugglers could get the supplies here just as fast as any imperial transport, arguably faster depending on circumstance and amount of bypassed red tape. But if the smugglers were detected by someone on the other side, the empire could disavow any knowledge of them and avoid conflict.

After half an hour the comlink beeped, and Zed pressed a button to answer. "Zed here."

" _A transmission from the landing party,"_ the comm officer reported.

"Put it through," Zed ordered.

A small blue hologram of the lieutenant appeared on the table, just to the right of the computer screen. _"Captain, we have a situation down here."_

"What is it?" Zed asked.

The lieutenant held up a hand-sized sensor drone. _"You better see it for yourself."_

* * *

Although the capital's Agni Kai arena had been destroyed at the end of the Hundred Year War, it was no excuse to deny the most sacred battle ritual of the Fire Nation. The western rim of the caldera had been chosen for the Agni Kai, on that narrow strip of high ground separating the city from the rest of the island. Like a proper arena the participants would be up close, yet nothing else would be close enough to catch fire. An audience standing in front of the palace would be able to look up at the battle, while a select few would have the honor of watching from both ends of the high ground.

Fifty feet of the caldera rim was chosen for the battlefield, with Zuko starting at the southern end and Ozai starting at the northern end. Both of them were shirtless and crouching with one hand and one knee on the ground, facing away from each other before the official start of the duel. At Zuko's end Sokka and Toph were watching, and at Ozai's end Shinu and Lao were quietly observing. The sun was almost directly overhead, as the Agni Kai would begin at high noon. There was still time to back out, but Zuko was certain he had to go through with the Agni Kai.

"Are you sure you can beat him?" Sokka asked.

"Only one way to find out," Zuko said.

"Whoop his butt Sparky," Toph said.

Zuko smiled at her, appreciating the confidence. "That's the plan."

High noon arrived, and a loud horn bellowed to start the Agni Kai.

Both combatants got up and quickly turned around, facing each other and then beginning their attacks. A pair of fireballs collided in the middle, exploding into a shroud of flame that lasted a split second. Zuko took a step forward with each fireball he threw next, and Ozai remained in place while he was throwing more fire. The flames collided in a middle point that gradually moved north, until Zuko got within ten feet of Ozai and close enough to see the whiles of his eyes. There was a moment read each other's face, and then attack accordingly.

With a sweep of his right leg Zuko kicked up a wide wave of fire, scorching the ground as the attack burned towards Ozai. The fire spanned the ground from one side to the other, leaving no space for Ozai to dodge the attack, lest he plummet down either side of the caldera rim. Instead Ozai punched to shoot flames into the oncoming fire, piercing them to split the wave in half and let both sides of the fire pass by him harmlessly. Ozai's fire continued on across the battlefield, heading straight for Zuko still on the advance.

At the last moment Zuko swept an arm to the side to divert the oncoming fire, sending it far to his right and out of his way. Zuko then thrust both fists forward to shoot a plume of fire at Ozai, who quickly moved to the left to dodge them. Ozai's left foot touched the edge of the caldera rim, and the other foot was swung to hurl flames at Zuko. Most of that attack was diverted by Zuko's firebending, but enough of it got through to make him dodge the rest, and go past the caldera rim's inner edge and into open air.

When his feet didn't find ground Zuko almost panicked, but right when he started to fall he kicked with both legs to firebend. While not enough to overcome gravity's pull, the flames that erupted from his feet pushed him back towards the narrow strip of high ground. Zuko's shins impacted the edge and he tripped, ending up on one hand and knee when his firebending had stopped. He only needed a second to get back on his feet, but that second was all that Ozai needed for his next attack. And Zuko only had to hear it to know what was coming for him.

During that second Ozai swung both arms in a wide circular motion, index and middle fingers of each hand extended. Electricity crackled around his fingertips to charge a bolt of lightning, a specialty that Ozai reveled in perfecting long ago. The few firebenders that could create lightning needed several seconds to do charge and fire, while he had gotten the time down to just one. Zuko was still getting back on his feet when Ozai pointed his right fingers forward, firing the bolt of lightning directly at his beating heart.

Reacting just as fast as the lightning, Zuko stuck his own first two fingers directly at the incoming attack. The lightning struck his outstretched left arm, and started passing through his flesh and flowing along the chi lines in his body. Using the redirection technique invented by his uncle, Zuko channeled the lightning down his arm to his stomach and then back up the other arm. Compared to the one time he redirected something far bigger than lightning, Zuko felt like he could redirect this attack in his sleep. Last time had wrecked his body for months, this time he barely even felt it.

Just as fast as the lightning was conjured it was sent back at its source, threatening Ozai with the very attack that he had just created. So Ozai charged and fired a second bolt of lightning, shooting it at the first bolt coming back at him. The two bolts of lightning collided in the middle with a bright flash of light, shattering into many smaller arcs of electricity that scattered in every direction. Thunder could be heard across the caldera, and after the collision there was a black scorch mark on the ground between Zuko and Ozai.

After rubbing the glare from his eyes, Ozai relaxed his stance. "Enough."

Surprised, Zuko blinked twice. "What?"

"There is no need to continue," Ozai clarified. "I've seen enough."

Zuko wasn't sure what was meant by that. "And what have you seen?"

"Four years ago you challenged my authority, but would not fight for the decisions you believed were right." Ozai paused to let that sink in. "Today, you fought for your cause, and would kill for it. That righteous fury is what I always wanted to see in a prince of the Fire Nation."

Uncertain if he could believe what he was hearing, Zuko only slightly relaxed. "I'm not that little boy that cowered beneath you anymore."

"You've grown, in body and in spirit," Ozai said. "In my eyes, your honor has returned."

Zuko stood straight, and then bowed. "Thank you."

"Thank yourself," Ozai said, returning a smaller bow. "You earned it."

Feeling very relieved now that it was over, Zuko walked back to the southern end where Sokka and Toph were still watching. "For a moment there, I thought one of us was going to die."

"I'm kind of disappointed," Toph admitted, having her arms crossed. "Was hoping you'd actually put him in the ground, he certainly deserves it."

Sokka shushed her, though he knew that wouldn't stop her from speaking her mind. "I'm just glad you got through it alive Zuko."

"We both are," Zuko said. Then he turned to look at the city in the caldera. "Now then, I believe we have a lot of work to do."

* * *

The entire duel had been recorded by the lieutenant's sensor drone, and the footage was being reviewed aboard the _Stalker_. Captain Zed had seen the initial feed, and had re-watched it several times in the main meeting room. Darth Vader joined him there and watched the recorded duel, not saying a word and keeping his thoughts to himself. The ship's chief tactical officer was in attendance as well, studying the applications of the pyrokinetic and electrical abilities demonstrated. They certainly opened up new possibilities to exploit.

After watching for the eleventh time, Zed folded his hands and looked at Darth Vader. "Is this some form of those Force powers you are so fond of?"

"Perhaps," Darth Vader said, finally speaking his mind on the matter. "I will need to see it in person to be certain."

Zed turned to his tactical officer next, her soft face deep in thought. "Commander Reed, your opinion?"

"Well it's no match for a blaster," Reed said. Under the table she made a small upward thrust of her fist, seeing how fast it could be done. "But it would be perfect for sneak attacks, surprise and kill a target before the blasters are drawn."

"You would consider this pryokinesis an asset?" Zed asked.

Commander Reed nodded, slightly moving her short blonde hair. "In places that don't allow weapons, a living weapon hidden in plain sight would be an advantage. If the rebels could be tricked into believing a peace offering, which we would double cross of course, this Zuko or someone like him could walk in unarmed and still eliminate the rebel diplomats."

"And they would never see it coming," Zed added, liking the possibilities more and more. "Commander, get Zuko back aboard for testing. Invite his allies as well, along with any others he wishes to escort him. And examine the previous escort still aboard, see if they possess similar abilities. I want to know exactly what they are capable of."

"I will oversee the testing," Darth Vader interjected. "There is a supernatural element in play here. I will see if it can be deconstructed and replicated in others."

"I was just about to suggest that," Zed said.

Darth Vader turned and walked away, leaving the room without another word.

Once he was gone, Commander Reed let out a sigh of relief. "Permission to speak freely?"

"Granted," Zed said.

"He really creeps me out."

* * *

By royal decree of Fire Lord Ozai, Prince Zuko's banishment was officially ended. After four years with only the princess for a royal heir, the Fire Nation had a Crown Prince once again. For the common folk in the capital it was a joyous occasion and excuse to party, now that there was greater certainty in the royal line providing stability for their nation. For minor nobles with risky ambitions the news was an unwanted complication, something to change their plans in the event of the Fire Lord having some unfortunate accident.

Despite finally having what he wanted four years ago, Zuko did not have the time to celebrate. "Hurry it up. We don't have all day."

Zuko was currently at the capital's research and development lab, personally overseeing all of the activity here. He was standing on the ground floor of the building, watching the workers collect their research and get it ready for transport. Naturally it was all being copied first, and the copies being sent out instead of the originals, which were being stored downstairs. Everything they had on what happened a year ago was being sent out, everything that could possibly be used to find something useful against that threat.

In the middle of it all Chan came up from the lower levels, carrying a crate that contained the partially dismantled blaster he had been working on. "You're certain this goes too?"

"Yes," Zuko said, glancing at a label to know what was inside the crate. "Mai still has the other one anyway. We can take it apart later."

"Understood," Chan said. He was walking past him when Zuko grabbed his arm.

"We captured a different kind of weapon up north," Zuko whispered. "I'll make sure one gets sent down here as soon as I can."

"I appreciate it," Chan whispered back.

Zuko pulled him in a little closer, using an even quieter whisper so only Chan could hear him. "Are the girls still downstairs?"

Chan nodded. "Sokka told you about them?"

Silence was Zuko's answer, and he was already walking away from Chan. Zuko went straight for the stairwell that led to the underground levels, and he took them all the way down to the deepest basement. At the bottom there was a long and narrow corridor, with a solid steel door at the far end. Zuko opened the door and walked into the room beyond, finding a large and cavernous training hall on the other side. There were a dozen women practicing inside, and several explosions blowing holes in the far wall.

"So this is your training hall," Zuko said, approaching the young woman in charge. "I like what you've done with the place, Suki."

Wearing the uniform of a Kyoshi Warrior, Suki walked up to Zuko. "I thought someone told me you could never set foot in the Fire Nation again?"

"Someone was right, up until an hour ago," Zuko said. He looked over Suki's shoulder to see the other women practicing. "This can't be all of your students? Can it?"

"We're very thorough with the vetting," Suki answered. She gestured to her students. "If the wrong person learned this it could become a catastrophe. Better to keep our numbers low than to have one of them go all dictator on us."

Zuko took a moment to watch the students, having a vague idea of how their technique worked. Suki had been the first to learn it, back when the first visitor had appeared to be a generous benefactor. She had learned how to concentrate the innate energy within her body, and release it in explosive blasts. It vaguely resembled firebending, but without the actual fire and more destructive potential. It looked like little balls of light were coming out of their hands, which shot across the room and exploded against the wall, leaving holes of varying sizes in the rock.

Suki aimed her palm and fired an energy blast, and the resulting explosion excavated a dozen cubic feet of rock. "I've only had a year of practice, and I can bring down buildings with that. Who knows how big we can take this?"

"I can imagine," Zuko said. He turned away from the students to look Suki in the eye. "In fact, I might need to count on it."

"What for?" Suki asked.

"Has anyone told you what's going on topside?" Zuko asked.

"That some different aliens have arrived," Suki answered.

"That'd be it," Zuko said. "They don't know about this technique, for now anyway. I'd prefer to keep it that way. If this all goes south we're going to need it."

"Got it," Suki said. She turned to her students and clapped her hands, and every head turned to look at her. "That's enough for today. I want everyone to go home and rest. Next practice will be in a week."

Zuko watched as all the students left through a door on the far end of the hall, entering a corridor different from the one he had entered from. He figured that it led in the ancient labyrinth of tunnels that crisscrossed the capital, mostly formed from old lava tubes that people had dug into long ago. One could go anywhere in the city through them, if one did not get lost in the elaborate maze first. Each of those students could emerge in a different part of the city, and not raise any suspicion from the visitors in the streets and skies above.

Soon only Zuko and Suki remained in the training hall. "Thanks. If things go right I won't need to ask for more. If it doesn't, well then you'll be my white lotus in the hole."

Suki raised an eyebrow and gave an amused look.

"That did not come out right," Zuko admitted.

"That it did not," Suki agreed.

* * *

Darth Vader had waited long enough.

There was only so much one could tell about a world from orbit, even with the Force at his command. The time had come to personally set foot on this planet, to see its environment and populace firsthand. Darth Vader wanted to see the supernatural abilities of the locals for himself, and see how they used them in their day to day lives. He had to know if this was some offshoot of Force abilities, or if something else was the source of their power. So he boarded a shuttle and ordered a pilot to take him down there, and he took a small contingent of stormtroopers with him for a show of force.

However he did not set a course for the Fire Nation, where the last shuttle had landed. Instead Darth Vader selected a different destination, one that was currently in the middle of local morning. Within the Force there was still a lingering mark from the last encounter with powerful beings, including a third one nearly forgotten, and Darth Vader directed the shuttle to the place most greatly affected by that encounter. Before long he could see a ruined city through the shuttle's window, a city with walls large enough to be geological landmarks.

The obvious seat of government here was the very center of the city, where a large palace stood at the heart of a once expansive metropolis. There was just enough space between the main doors and the steep steps for the shuttle to land, though it had to do so sideways with the doors on the right and steep steps on the left. Once the shuttle's entry ramp was deployed Darth Vader was the first one to exit, finding an excellent view of the city up until the closest of its walls, which blocked the view of the rest from here.

Already there was a response from the locals, starting with groups of what he assumed to be guards. One group was coming around the palace in front of the shuttle, another group from behind the shuttle, and a third group coming up the steep steps to the shuttle's left. Darth Vader paid them no mind, as the path into the palace was still clear. A pair of stormtroopers followed him into the palace, where they found another group of guards coming from the opposite end of a large hallway. This was to be expected of course, as this part of the planet was still uncontacted.

When the two sides met Darth Vader stopped. "Bring your leader to me."

Sure enough the group of guards parted, as their leader had already been exiting the throne room. Long Feng scowled at the sight of Darth Vader. "And who are you supposed to be?"

"I am Darth Vader." After that introduction he took a step closer. "And you are?"

"Long Feng," he answered, and through force of habit he made a courteous bow. He couldn't help but notice the way Darth Vader breathed, mechanically regular and not aligned with his speech. "I assume you are from the ship up there."

"Yes." He didn't bother with returning the local greeting custom Long Feng used. "And you have one opportunity to prosper here."

Long Feng's eyes narrowed. "I'm listening."

* * *

Elsewhere in Ba Sing Se, Avatar Aang had just started his day. But when he spotted the inbound shuttle in the light of dawn, he felt a chill go down his spine. "That is not a good feeling."


	4. Relief

Chapter 4: Relief

"What do you mean he left the ship?!"

Captain Zed was not having a good morning.

There was supposed to have been a meeting this morning for the senior staff, and that Darth Vader was supposed to attend. They were supposed to discuss the plans for moving forward here, whether to take the risks involved with utilizing this world's unique resource or to play it safe and leave the Neutral Zone before being discovered. Although Zed figured that Darth Vader agreed with the former option, he knew that several of his officers and most of the crew wanted the latter course of action. This was supposed to be the time to address their concerns, but the man that needed to hear them was not here.

In the control room of the shuttle bay Zed was speaking with the coordinator on duty. The poor sub-lieutenant was shaking in his boots before the captain, though he would gladly face Zed instead of Darth Vader. "He took his personal shuttle to the planet."

"Specifics," Zed demanded.

The sub-lieutenant brought up the landing coordinates on a console, the screen showing a red dot on the planet's large continent. "The shuttle landed in the center of that walled city."

"Why would he go there?" Zed asked.

"He mentioned something about the Force as his guide," the sub-lieutenant answered. He knew the odd look the captain was giving him now. "Yeah, I was thinking that too."

"And you didn't say anything to him?" Zed asked.

"I wouldn't be standing here if I did," the sub-lieutenant answered.

"That is true," Zed said. While it was an honor to have Darth Vader aboard his ship, crew and officer casualties always doubled during such times. It was quite frankly amazing that no one had died yet on this mission. "Let me know when he comes back."

"Understood sir."

Captain Zed looked out the control room window, seeing the entire shuttle bay within the view. There were more shuttles available for use, someing that every command ship could always use a few more. He looked up to see a compliment of Tie Fighters hanging in their racks, ready to be deployed from the upper wall at a moment's notice. Zed didn't expect them to see any use here, but it was always a good feeling to know that the fighter crafts were at his disposal should he need them. There was also plenty of troop transports, but they seemed to just take up space during this mission.

After a few minutes of silent sightseeing Zed was interrupted by a beeping sound, and he pressed a button on a console to silence it. "Bridge: Report."

" _There's a transmission for you sir, and its marked high priority."_

"Send it down here," Zed ordered. He entered his personal access code to allow the console in the control room to receive the private transmission, and a screen displayed identification from Imperial Supply. "Finally…"

There was no voice communication in this transmission, as there was no need for a response to this message. The quartermaster had acquired a handful of smuggler ships for Zed's request, enough for a first shipment to this planet heading out immediately. There was a list of the ships available and a cargo manifest for each, though Zed skimmed over the lists of supplies they would be bringing. After going through the message he went back up to the list of smuggler ships, pausing at the class of ship the last one was.

"Huh? A YT thirteen hundred freighter?" Zed muttered, fingers stroking his chin. "I've always wanted to see one of those."

* * *

The sun was just barely starting to rise over Ba Sing Se, the beginning of yet another busy day for the people that worked to rebuild their city. Only this time there was a crowd growing in front of the palace, but it was held back by several rows of city guards and Dai Li agents. Even from the bottom of the palace steps the crowd could see the alien shuttle parked at the top, as well as the strange soldiers in white armor that stood guard on all sides of it. There was certainly an air of fear around the crowd, barely kept contained by the guards and the Dai Li.

High above the crowd Aang soared past them, using his glider to return to the palace as quick as he could fly. But he didn't head for the parked shuttle, instead deciding to land at the side of the palace and use a hidden door to enter there. Aang then ran through one of the smaller corridors inside the palace, quickly finding his way back to the main hall that went from the front entrance to the throne room. His route exited in the middle of that hall, and from there Aang walked the rest of the way to the throne room.

When he arrived he found Long Feng standing at the head of a table, speaking to someone that Aang had no chance of recognizing. If the entirely black attire and shiny helmet weren't ominous enough, the mechanized breathing certainly was. The stranger turned his head and spotted Aang's entrance, though any reaction in his face was hidden behind the black mask. Whoever this guy was Aang couldn't tell even in the slightest, but he did not like the bad feeling running down his spine. Like him simply being _there_ was off-putting, but Aang simply couldn't tell why.

Long Feng did not seem to notice that last bit, or at least kept it hidden it during this formal introduction. "Ah, Avatar Aang, you have fortunate timing. I would like you to meet our guest, Darth Vader."

"Hello," Aang said, making the customary bow but with entirely faked sincerity. "I take it you are the ambassador from that ship in the sky."

"In a manner of speaking," Darth Vader answered. The way his voice did not match his breathing only disturbed Aang more. He looked at Long Feng, and then back to Aang. "I am told that you serve a similar role on this world that I perform for the Empire, maintaining order amongst the various factions of your people."

"Balance between nations, that's my job," Aang said. He walked up to the right side of the table, putting Long Feng on his right and Darth Vader on his left. "But I'm pretty sure dealing with space people is not part of my job description."

"It is now," Long Feng interjected. "Especially after the last one, we could deal with someone that is up front with his intentions instead of pretending to be our friend."

"And what are those intentions?" Aang asked, glaring at Darth Vader.

"We came here looking for an enemy of our own," Darth Vader explained. "Although he is not here anymore, our visit has procured insightful information. Your ally in this Fire Nation of yours, Zuko was it? He has been most cooperative after an initial misunderstanding."

"There's more you want though?" Aang inquired. "Otherwise why bother coming to Ba Sing Se?"

"Quite insightful," Darth Vader commented. "Your planet is in a unique situation. It is located within the border between two empires, caught in the middle of a Neutral Zone. I envision a secret monitoring outpost hidden beneath this city, disguised by the urban environment and providing an early warning system, for you and for us if the other empire invades."

Aang looked right to Long Feng. "I'm going to have to defer to you on this one."

"Well for obvious reasons I can't verify his claim about where we are," Long Feng said. "But if it is true, it couldn't hurt to have someone looking out for us, if only for his own self-interest."

Aang nodded, and then looked left at Darth Vader. "I suppose there will be conditions if we agree?"

"Only that imperial staff be allowed to work as they see fit," Darth Vader said. "Your world will not be required to join the Empire. Quite to the contrary, that would defeat the purpose of having a secret outpost in the Neutral Zone. Otherwise your world can continue on with its own affairs, as long as the outpost continues to function."

"Sounds reasonable," Aang admitted, and thought it was too good to be true. "But I will need to speak with all of our world leaders first. This is not a decision that I, or him, can make on our own."

"Understandable," Darth Vader said. "When you have reached your decision, I will return."

Aang watched Darth Vader walk out of the throne room, and once he was certain that the visitor was out of earshot Aang faced Long Feng. "Do you believe him?"

"No," Long Feng bluntly answered. "He talks a lot about cooperation and beneficial relationships between us and them, but I don't buy it."

"It did sound too good to be true," Aang added. "And you know that that means."

Long Feng nodded. "That it isn't, no matter how strong that nagging feeling is."

"What nagging feeling?" Aang asked.

"I can't really explain it," Long Feng admitted. He waved a hand in front of him. "He kept doing something like this, and in the back of my mind it seemed like I should trust whatever he said. I ignored it of course, but it was really strange."

"Weird," Aang said. He looked out the doorway, imagining Darth Vader boarding that shuttle right about now. "Maybe it's connected to that creepy vibe I got from him?"

* * *

The moment Darth Vader boarded the shuttle the pilot began take off procedures, and the shuttle was in the air by the time Darth Vader got to his seat. It was a quick and uneventful flight back to the _Stalker_ , one Darth Vader spent deep in thought. One he was back aboard he walked to an adjacent section of the Star Destroyer, where the locals brought up from the first contact were being kept. A short walk through a corridor on that level took Darth Vader to his destination, where those locals were under observation.

One of the mess halls in this section of the ship had been hastily converted into a practice area, so as to not warrant suspicion from the locals by moving them to the proper experiment facilities elsewhere in the ship. The locals had been told that they could use this large room for whatever purpose they liked, from ceremonial rituals to sacred prayer and anything else they wished. The darker skinned locals in blue clothes had asked for several barrels of water, while the lone lighter skinned local had not asked for anything in particular.

When Darth Vader arrived he was met with a curious sight. Most of the locals were moving their bodies in fluid-like motions, and water was moving around them in curved lines and circles. Each time the motion of their bodies changed the motion of the water changed with it, and some of the locals were passing water between them without ever getting wet. They seemed to be having a good time doing this, as if they were playing some sort of game with all that moving water. It certainly had everyone's attention, and only a few bothered to look at Darth Vader standing there.

Darth Vader nodded to the locals, and then proceeded to walk to the next room over. In that room there were monitors showing surveillance of the locals, and there were several researchers taking extensive notes of every minute detail on their data pads. Among them was Captain Zed, his eyes practically glued to the monitor that he was looking at. Darth Vader walked over to the captain and stood by him, now watching the same monitor of the locals doing their thing, finding the possibilities quite intriguing.

"Hydrokinetic abilities," Darth Vader said. "That would have been very helpful on Kamino."

"Or any water or snow covered world," Zed added. He glanced at Darth Vader. "Speaking of which, didn't the last intelligent report suggest the rebels are looking for one of those?"

"There are hundreds of them to choose from," Darth Vader said. "Once we find their new base, we can begin sending these hydrokinetic shock troops to kill everyone inside."

"If they agree to fight a war that isn't theirs," Zed noted.

"Some will," Darth Vader said. He made a wave of his hand. "One way or another, we will have them."

Onscreen the locals seemed to have started a friendly fight, hurling water at each other while in turn diverting the water hurled at them. Their graceful motions had the water flowing everywhere, faster and faster as the fight went on. A relatively scrawny individual spun his whole body round and round, and all of the water seemed to be yanked away from all the other locals' control. Hundreds of gallons of water converged around that local, creating a cyclone that lifted him off the floor, and right into the ceiling.

On impact the local's control vanished, the water cyclone collapsing and dropping him to a hard landing on the floor. The others were all laughing at his misfortune, and after rubbing sore spots he started laughing too. "Well that sucked."

Another local crouched by him and offered a hand. "Are you hurt Sangok?"

"Just my pride," Sangok answered, accepting the hand and getting helped up. "I finally get that move right, and I don't have enough room to do it right."

"That's a master level move," another local said. "When did you become good enough to pull it off?"

"Since we got up here," Sangok answered. He shrugged and started ringing water out of his short brown hair. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm feeling better than ever. It's like a full moon is out, all the time."

Some odd looks were exchanged, all of them thinking the same thing. "You're not the only one."

Listening to the conversation, Darth Vader wondered about what the locals had noticed. "If they are more powerful here than at their home, something must be causing it."

"They mentioned a full moon," Zed said. He keyed a few commands into a console, bringing up a map of the local planetary system. "Our orbit puts us between the planet and its satellite, which by the way is rather large for this type of planet. We'll have to investigate further to confirm or deny a connection."

Fire onscreen drew the attention back to the locals, specifically the lone lighter skinned local that went by the name of Qin. He had punched a fireball across the room, which had hit a quickly risen wall of water and was extinguished. "Well my firebending is the same as ever."

"Jealous much?" Sangok asked.

"Not even the slightest," Qin answered. "So what if you have stronger waterbending here? The only water here to use it with is what our gracious hosts provide. If they don't give you any, you might as well not have bending at all."

"While your firebending can be used anywhere," another local pointed out.

"Exactly," Qin said. "I'll still take fire over water any day."

Intrigued by this turn in the conversation, Zed was rubbing his chin. "So they have a rivalry between different abilities. That won't be too difficult to exploit."

"Yes, but not just yet," Darth Vader said. "On the surface I saw those that command the rock, and an enlightening conversation revealed that one particular individual can control the wind. Those require study before we take any action that favors one over another."

"Agreed," Zed said. "We just need to get them aboard for study."

"Or they can be studied in their natural environment," Darth Vader suggested.

"Or both," Zed said.

"Or both," Darth Vader agreed.

* * *

"No, I'm not giving this up."

Sokka was holed up in the small apartment he stayed at while in the Fire Nation capital, having the door locked while looking through the small peephole at Zuko in the hallway outside. Apparently the restored prince's deal with the visitors had included handing over the alien items in Sokka's possession, a decision that had been made without his input or consent. Letting people in the Fire Nation study those items was one thing, handing them over to people he knew nothing about was another. And he didn't trust Zuko enough to give in without protest.

While the elastic blue fabric part of the space armor he found had decayed into scraps from washing, the white gloves and boots had survived alongside the white and brown chest armor. So Sokka was wearing his regular blue Water Tribe clothes underneath the chest armor, along with the gloves and boots. He was also carrying the foot and a half wide disk of silver alien metal, which he had attached a strap to and dubbed his space shield. Along with the black sword forged from a meteorite, Sokka thought of the set as his space suit.

Politely knocking on the door, Zuko was trying to be reasonable. "Come on Sokka, I'm sure they will have better success recreating your gear than we did."

"Can't you give them Mai or Ty Lee's gear instead?" Sokka asked.

"They aren't here," Zuko answered. "You are."

"I'm not ready to give them up," Sokka said.

"If you're that worried they'll destroy your toys then come with us," Zuko suggested. "I'm sure they'll understand if you want to see everything they do."

Now that was something he could agree to, so Sokka unlocked and opened the door. "You're sure they would let just anyone on their big spaceship?"

"I actually got a message saying that I could bring as many guests as I liked," Zuko said. "But the shuttle pilot says that he can only carry half a dozen extra passengers at a time."

"Alright, in that case I'm in," Sokka said. He walked into the hallway and closed the door behind him. "When else could I get to see space?"

Zuko nodded and led the way out, with Sokka following him out of the apartment building. Once outside Zuko declined the offer of a palanquin ride, still preferring to walk wherever he wanted to go instead of having others carry him around. It was a rather short walk anyway, only a third of the city had to be crossed to reach the palace courtyard. The shuttle was still parked there with its contingent of soldiers standing guard, keeping the citizens at a safe distance away from the shuttle. Some palace guards were standing watch as well, a few even having a conversation with the soldiers.

When the two arrived the soldiers parted to let them pass, and Zuko approached the pilot standing in front of the shuttle's entry ramp. "He has the last of it."

Sokka held up his space shield and tapped on his space armor, but kept the space sword sheathed and on his hip. "If you guys can figure out how to recreate this stuff, I'd appreciate a brand new set."

The pilot ignored him and kept his attention on Zuko. "If this is your last guest, we can get underway shortly."

"Who else is coming along?" Sokka asked, following the pilot and Zuko up the entry ramp.

There was no need for Zuko to answer, as they were entering the shuttle and could clearly see who was in the passenger section. Sokka was disappointed yet relieved to see that Fire Lord Ozai had not taken Zuko up on his suggestion to see the alien ship for himself, though he understood that the Fire Lord had to tend to his nation first. In any case Sokka felt a little bit safer now, even though he was getting into a space shuttle about to head up into space. Standing apart from all the rest as the lone earthbender here, Toph was sitting in between the last two open seats.

"About time you got back here Sparky," Toph said.

Sokka had trouble suppressing a laugh. "Okay, how did he convince you to go up there? Flying on Appa was always bad enough for you. I imagine going into space will be worse."

"I persuaded her," Zuko said, heading for one of the open seats.

"Really now?"Sokka questioned. "Or did he want your feet to see what el- ow!"

Zuko jabbed Sokka in the ribs with his elbow, stopping him midsentence. "Just sit down so we can leave already."

Once both of them took the last two seats and got strapped in the pilot began takeoff, and the shuttle lifted off the ground and slowly ascended towards the sky. There were small windows available for the passengers to look outside, though the view was blocked until the lower wings folded down into flight position. For all but one of them the view from the rising shuttle was breathtaking, seeing the Earth shrink and fall away before the ground was obscured by the highest clouds. Already they were higher than even a sky bison could fly, and going even higher than that.

"Could someone describe it to me," Toph requested, her hands tightly gripped on her seat's safety harness.

"You know what it's like on Appa," Sokka said. He felt his stomach fall out from under him when the shuttle accelerated skyward. "We're ten times higher and climbing."

"That bad huh?" Toph said. Another burst of acceleration and she suddenly felt the need to vomit, barely keeping it in while holding a hand over her mouth. "Do we have any barf bags?"

From the cockpit someone yelled, "Behind your seat."

"Thank you," Toph said, reaching behind there and finding some small silver bags. "I thought these were some kind of fancy space cushion."

Still looking out the window, Sokka saw the horizon morph into the round curvature of the globe. "Makes you feel really small."

Toph threw up into one of the small bags. "Makes me feel really sick."

Zuko looked away from the window to see how Toph was doing, and he did not like what he was seeing. "You're looking really pale."

She puked again, this time nearly filling the barf bag. "Ugh… I think… this was… a bad… idea…"

Toph's voice trailed off when she passed out, dropping the bag and only remaining in her seat by the grip of her safety harness.

"This isn't good," Zuko said. He turned his head toward the cockpit and raised his voice. "We need to take her back now!"

"Too late to turn around," the pilot said. "We're nearly there."

Sure enough when Zuko looked back out the window the Star Destroyer was in sight, growing bigger by the second as the shuttle got closer to the ship. When Sokka saw it he thought of a mighty dagger hanging in the dark sky of an eternal night, going by the triangular shape floating in the black void of space. They also got to see the large tower sticking up from the rear end of the ship, which Sokka figured that's where he would put the command center on a ship this big. But they were heading for the main part of the ship, where the top appeared to have a line dividing it into two halves.

The _Stalker_ 's shuttle bay doors opened and the shuttle gently landed inside, coming to a stop before the passengers realized they had landed. The entry ramp opened to allow the passengers to disembark, and almost everyone inside got up from their seats and walked toward the ramp. Sokka quickly unhooked Toph's safety harness, and with Zuko's help they carried her out of the shuttle. It seemed that the pilot had radioed ahead of their landing, and there was a small group of what appeared to be medics waiting for them.

A rather short mechanical man was among them. "Please state the nature of the medical emergency."

* * *

Elsewhere in this backwater solar system, behind a yellow-orange ringed gas giant, five ships of varying size and shape emerged from a hyperspace jump. Three of them were large freighters that were clearly past their prime, each with patchwork repairs and one that was more patch than ship. The other two were much smaller cargo vessels, and were in better shape despite extensive repairs done over the years. All five had some form of illegal modification installed, as was customary with ships used by smugglers.

One of the two smaller cargo vessels in this convoy was a YT-1300 freighter, known for the rather unconventional design of having the cockpit sticking out from the right side of the ship. It was currently hauling a full cargo hold of carbonite frozen foodstuffs, part of the relief effort to the backwater third planet in this system. Thanks to some last minute markings on the hull and a thoroughly forged ID-signal, the Empire recognized this ship as the _Vortando_ instead of the increasingly well-known _Millennium Falcon_.

A wookie in the copilot's chair grumbled something.

"You and me both," the captain replied.

If Han Solo had known that listening to one of his smuggler contacts would lead to this, he would have kept his mouth shut around that stuck up princess. Word had gotten around that the Empire wanted smugglers to deliver a shipment into the Neutral Zone, and they were paying quite a premium for the service. So when Han mentioned it to Leia she had wanted to know why the Empire was going through all the trouble, and of course the only smugglers the Rebel Alliance had on call were Han and Chewbacca.

Chewbacca grumbled some more as he steered the Falcon behind a larger freighter, on a course to pass through a larger gas giant's shadow along the way to the third planet.

"So we won't let them see our faces," Han Solo said. He let Chewbacca ask a question. "We'll stow away in the holds, it worked last time."

Some growling followed, and Chewbacca waved an arm towards the entryway.

"Trust me, those two back there won't screw this up," Han reassured, while telling himself to believe it. "We'll take passive scans on the way in, let our face-men play the role for us, take active scans on the way out, and punch it before that Star Destroyer realizes we're not who we say we are."

A short growl this time, and a wave of a furry hand in a dismissive manner.

"And if it all goes wrong we'll punch it early," Han said. "Bad feelings or not, we've already come this far. Besides, if nothing goes wrong, we'll have enough credits to pay our debts threefold."

Right when Chewbacca started saying it in wookie, Han said the same thing in Basic. "Now that Jabba's dead!"


	5. Another Point of View

Chapter 5: Another Point of View

After passing by the fifth planet of this solar system, the convoy of smuggler ships left the largest of four gas giants behind them. From there it was a straight shot to the third planet, as the fourth was too small and in the wrong part of its orbit for effective cover. Just to the left of the third planet's large satellite sensors could detect a Star Destroyer in orbit, fighting the gravity well to remain in the planet's shadow. A smuggler's instinct in this situation was to turn around and jump into hyperspace, not head towards it as they were instructed.

For once it was more profitable to comply with the Empire than to circumvent its laws and regulations, though only because of the discreet nature of this assignment. The apparent risk here had the Empire paying five times the going rate for these supplies, quite a premium that simply could not be passed up by any cash strapped smuggler. For each ship this was going to be a very big payday, with it being at the Empire's expense as the icing on the cake. There would certainly be a lot of crowded cantinas once this was over, the credits and drinks flowing like water.

Last in the convoy was the _Millennium Falcon_ , its pilot and captain Han Solo turned on the internal comm system. "Alright kid, we're going to need that voice of yours real quick."

The wookie Chewbacca grumbled something.

"I gave him your script," Han said, right before a young brown haired man walked into the cockpit. "Alright Wedge, time to see how well you could have been in holo-films."

Although Wedge Antilles was only a fighter pilot and mechanic, he had been handpicked by Princess Leia to be a substitute for Han Solo. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

"Here you go," Han said, handing Wedge a headset before hailing the Star Destroyer, praying that they didn't have Wedge's voice on record.

Wedge cleared his throat before putting on the headset. "This is the cargo freighter _Vortando_ hailing Imperial Star Destroyer _Stalker_ , delivering cargo requested by Imperial Supply, now requesting permission to dock."

Now all they could do was wait for a response. With each passing second the Star Destroyer grew larger in the view, ever the greater threat the closer they got to it and its immense arsenal. Han had his hand on the hyperdrive control, ready to engage at the last possible second to get them out of here. He was about to do it when the console beeped, as the _Falcon_ was receiving a signal back from the Star Destroyer. It had all of them letting out a breath they had been holding, and they heard a voice coming through the comm.

" _Acknowledged_ Vortando _, await further instruction."_ There was a pause on that end, as if the officer was looking for something. _"_ Vortando _, the main shuttle bay is currently under quarantine. Please dock at underside hatch three. I apologize for the inconvenience."_

"Understood, _Vortando_ out," Wedge said, ending the transmission. "Huh, wonder what's going on over there."

"Whatever it is, it's not our problem," Han said. He got up from his chair and gestured for Chewbacca to follow. "We've got enough of them already."

* * *

When Toph awoke she felt strangely hollow inside, until her stomach started rumbling and told her only that part of her was empty. Then she noticed where she was, or rather the lack of where itself. To her form of sight she was lying back on a rather comfortable bed, in the middle of an abyss with nothing connected to it. Yet she did not feel the sensation of falling, despite every instinct telling her that ought to be happening right now. It was like something out of a nightmare, being completely lost and alone in a small island that she could see.

"What the… where am I?"

"Whew, you had us worried there," Sokka said, putting a hand on her wrist to comfort her.

The moment Sokka made contact Toph's world expanded, now that there was a physical connection for the vibrations to get to her. She could now see the shuttle bay all around her, along with Sokka and Zuko standing next to the bed that seemed to hover in place. They were near a wall that connected to a corridor, she could see several shuttles in the bay along with other assorted vessels. It also seemed like a prison here, as there were guards stopping people from coming in or going out. But they weren't aggressive, merely concerned with the health of everyone here.

"Oh right, we were going to that space ship," Toph said, raising herself to a sitting position. She held Sokka's hand with her right one, and the other arm wrapped around her belly. "Worst. Trip. Ever."

"I've never see you pass out before," Sokka admitted.

"Well I'm feeling a little bit better now," Toph said. She noticed a strange metal statue standing at the head of the bed, with hands that appeared to be some kind of tools. "Kind of hungry though."

"Your vitals appear to have stabilized."

"AH!" Toph yelled, scooting away from the unexpected voice. Now that she took the time to focus on it, the strange metal statue was moving. "What is that thing?!"

"I'm not really sure," Zuko said, looking at the grey colored mechanical man observing Toph. "The pilot said it was an emergency medical droid. Not that I know what a droid is other than it's some kind of machine."

"This 'machine' is nearly finished," the droid said, taking some scans of the patient. "Do you still feel nauseous or other symptoms of any kind?"

"Just hungry," Toph answered, having scooted all the way to the opposite end of the bed. She dangled her feet off the end, reaching with her toes until they touched the floor. "So what's the verdict Doc? Am I contagious?"

"Scans are coming up negative for viral elements, all vitals within acceptable parameters; you appear to be in good health." The droid shut down its scanners and backed away, then turned towards one of many officers standing nearby. "There is no risk of an outbreak."

That officer reported to the guards at the nearest exit, feeling very much relieved. "All clear. Lift the medical quarantine."

In moments the shuttle bay returned to what Toph assumed to be normal behavior, with the guards leaving the exits and everyone else going back to their own business. Toph quickly got onto her feet and walked away from the hovering bed, glad to have something solid beneath her feet. It was a little disconcerting that there was hardly any earth in the place, not enough for her to bend anyway. Even the metal around her seemed remarkably pure, clearly refined with far more advanced techniques than Earth had.

As she walked out of the shuttle bay with Sokka and Zuko, Toph had something she wanted to ask. "So is there a cafeteria around here?"

* * *

Directly beneath the _Stalker_ 's bottom hull, the _Millennium Falcon_ was docked and hanging like some irregular stalactite. A docking clamp from the Star Destroyer was affixed to the _Falcon_ 's dorsal hatch, using the _Falcon_ 's lift for passage to and from the larger ship. Wedge was standing at the access hatch for the lift, currently in use bringing someone down from the _Stalker_. When the lift descended it brought three people down, an officer accompanied by two stormtroopers. Wedge didn't like the idea of haven them on the _Falcon_ , but it was necessary to keep up appearances.

"Welcome aboard sir," Wedge said, with all the courtesy the Empire expected of people. "The _Vortando_ may not look pretty, but she'll get the job done.

The officer took a small data chip out of his pocket and handed it to Wedge. "These are the coordinates for delivery on the planet. You and your crew are not to interact with the local inhabitants. I will handle the delicate matters planet-side."

"As you wish," Wedge said, taking the chip.

Waiting right beneath their feet in one of the Falcon's concealed smuggler holds, Han and Chewbacca were listening in on everything with a spare pair of headsets. Han was happy to hear that the final delivery would be made on the planet instead of the Star Destroyer, since making a getaway from there didn't have the problem of blowing apart any docking clamps first, removing the risk of damage to his own ship. The two stayed silent while hearing footsteps through the false deck plating, figuring that Wedge was heading back to the cockpit.

When he got there Wedge handed the data chip over to his copilot, another brown haired rebel by the name of Wes Janson. Caution told him not to insert the chip into the Falcon's main computer, suspecting that the Empire might want to upload a virus that would disable all the smugglers after the deliveries were completed. Instead Wes put the chip into a separate data pad, and a set of coordinates appeared on the pad's tiny screen. He then started putting the coordinates into the _Falcon_ , plotting a course to get them there.

"Large continent, east coast, right in the middle of a giant circular wall," Wes said, giving the general location on the planet.

The Imperial officer stepped into the cockpit, though the stormtroopers remained just outside. "There's a city down there that needs the shipment you're carrying."

"Let's get underway," Wedge said, getting into the pilot's chair. He resisted the urge to adjust the seat, both while in front of the officer and to avoid the ire of Han. "Prepare to release the docking clamp."

Once the officer transmitted the correct code back to the _Stalker_ , the operators over there made the docking clamp detach from the _Falcon_ 's dorsal hatch. Thrusters turned the _Falcon_ around to face away from the Star Destroyer, and when the main engines ignited the _Falcon_ put the larger ship behind it. The Falcon then set a course for the planet, heading for the dayside to descend in the local morning. The nearby star was in full view when the _Falcon_ entered atmosphere, so there was a glare in the cockpit's windows.

When a large and ruined city came into view the officer pointed at one particular spot. "Put this ship down there, plenty of room to unload."

The _Falcon_ descended towards the northern part of the city, where some immense calamity had left a wide swath of destruction some time ago. The area had been cleared out some time since then, but had yet to be replaced with new buildings. However one of the larger smuggler freighters had dibs on the center of the cleared land, so the _Falcon_ had to land closer to the southern end of the clearing. On the way in the city appeared to separate into distinct sections, with the Falcon's landing coordinates being in the second innermost one.

And as the Falcon descended, from one of the massive walls, two teenage girls watched.

* * *

Once again, Toph started to feel sick.

Not from an upset stomach, but from a stomach far too full. There had been a mess hall not too far from the ship's shuttle bay, and Toph had been hungry enough to stuff her face with everything she could get her hands on. Sokka and Zuko could barely keep up with her ferocious appetite, and the food here was of a quality unheard of back on Earth. Not only was the taste out of this world, but the nutrition was richer and healthier for her than anything she could get back home. It more than made up for emptying her stomach on the way here, filling it back up with so much better food.

Sitting with Sokka and Zuko around one of many tables, Toph leaned back and belched. "I take it back. This is not the worst trip ever."

Sokka was munching on some kind of meat and cheese patty between two pieces of bread. "You know, if they had started with something like this, this whole ordeal could have been a lot smoother."

"Appealing to your stomach," Zuko surmised, having a simple juicy steak. "I suppose that might have worked. There are a lot of hungry mouths to feed."

"Like mine," Sokka said in between two bites. After swallowing he held up his drink in a clear glass. "I'm not sure about the blue milk through. That's kind of weird."

"We're in a giant metal ship, hovering in space, and you find the milk weird?" Toph questioned.

"Point taken," Sokka admitted. He had just finished his meal when a crewman approached him. "Can I help you?"

"The lab is ready," the crewman reported. "We're ready to analyze the equipment you salvaged."

Sokka sighed and got up, though still facing Toph and Zuko. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

While Sokka left the mess hall with the crewman Toph and Zuko watched them leave, and then Toph scooted her chair closer to Zuko so that she could whisper to him. "Hey Sparky, does anything seem different to you?"

"What do you mean?" Zuko whispered back.

"Well I thought I was just really hungry," Toph whispered. She started flexing her fingers, as if expecting something to happen. "But still… something seems wrong. Like there's a void I can't explain."

"I hope you're not going to throw up again," Zuko said.

"If I do, that'll be from overeating," Toph said.

Zuko made a quite laugh, though it didn't last long. He pushed his chair back and stood up. "Come on. We should probably check up on the people I left up here last time."

Toph shrugged and got up to follow him. "Not like I have anything better to do here."

* * *

In Ba Sing Se tensions were running high again, now that three more alien ships had landed in the city. They were in the cleared area straddling lower and middle rings, putting plenty of space between them and citizens that ventured there from the middle ring. The bigger ships were shaped like flattened cylinders with small legs, while the smaller ship was more like a disk. The people that emerged from the larger ships seemed like ordinary folk in plain clothes, and they started unloading large gray crates from within the ship.

Watching from atop the innermost wall of the city, Katara wondered what else might be inside those ships. She knew that Aang and Long Feng had reservations about the leader of these visitors, and they made it clear that it was still far too early to trust them. Standing next to her Azula was of a similar mind, suspecting alternative motives behind these ships being here. Azula could certainly think of all the things she would do in their position, and figured that far worse ideas could be employed by the visitors if they meant them harm.

Azula looked at Katara and nodded. "Let's get a closer look."

Katara pointed at the smaller ship. "That one first."

It took a few minutes for them to reach a set of steps on the outer side of the wall, and a few minutes more to climb down them. From there they walked through the middle ring to reach the cleared area, passing through crowds to reach it, and approached the edge closest to the smaller ship. From around the corner of a small burnt out building at the southwestern edge they could see a ramp opening beneath the ship, with someone in a grey uniform exiting followed by two in white armor. None of them seemed particularly happy to be here.

"Too small for an attack force," Azula noted.

"Shush," Katara whispered.

The one in grey checked a handheld device, and then looked up at the sky. Seemingly on schedule a shuttle appeared and descended toward the city, coming in for a landing at the palace. He put away the device and made a hand signal to the two in white, who in turn signaled to someone inside the ship. Two more people wearing plain brown clothes emerged, both pushing hovering carts that were carrying white crates on them. They then unloaded the carts and placed the crates on the ground, and went back inside to go get more.

Azula stepped out from their hiding place, and before Katara could do anything about it she was out in the open. "What are you doing?"

"Asking them," Azula said. She crossed into the cleared area, approaching the one in grey and getting his attention. "Excuse me, what are you doing here?"

Up close the man's outfit was clearly a uniform, with markings suggesting an officer's rank. He looked like he wished he could be anywhere else right now. "Ma'am, you'll find out when everyone else does."

"Oh right, you probably don't know who I am," Azula figured, wishing she had brought her salvaged space armor today. "I am Princess Azula, Fire Nation representative in Ba Sing Se."

The officer took out his little device again, tapped its buttons in a certain order, and looked at a picture that appeared on a tiny screen. "Ah yes, Lord Vader's report mentions that name."

"Then you should know I have some authority here," Azula said.

After a humph and a shrug, the officer put away his device. "Well then if you really must know, they are unloading supplies for this city to use as its people see fit. Consider it a gesture of goodwill between your planet and the Empire."

"I would like to inspect the contents," Azula said. "If it wouldn't be too much trouble."

While Azula had all the attention, a natural talent of hers, Katara quietly walked into the cleared area unnoticed. She took a long and curved route to get behind the ship, finding small cover behind one of its landing struts. There she uncorked a waterskin she carried and drew all the water from it, having slightly more than a gallon and having it coat her right hand. Then she reached for one of the large engines and the water lengthened into a thin whip, which attached to the top and then pulled her most of the way up there.

Her free hand grabbed the top by the edge, and Katara had to pull herself up the rest of the way. Once she had her feet on seemingly solid metal plating, Katara looked around the top of the ship for a way inside. There was a hatch that appeared to lead into the middle section, but it was closed and no apparent way to open it from outside. After slowly walking around something that looked like a double barreled cannon, Katara headed for the cockpit sticking out the ship's right side. As far as she could tell, that was going to be the only way to get a look inside.

At the edge of the cockpit Katara crouched and looked over the windows, taking short peek first to see if anyone was in there. There hadn't been anyone so Katara looked again but longer this time, getting a better view of the inside. She saw all sorts of controls that she couldn't make heads or tails out of, except for the fact that they had seen better days. For something that was more advanced that anything on Earth, this cockpit looked absolutely ancient. She wasn't sure if it was the layer of smeared grime over everything, or the patchwork parts clearly never meant to fit together.

But there was a blinking red light in there, which did not bode well as far as Katara was concerned. "Hmm… wonder what that means?"

Suddenly the hatch opened, with a sound that had Katara wishing she could get to cover. From the hatch a gentleman in a white shirt and brown jacket emerged, brandishing a weapon aimed at Katara. "Hands up."

Reluctantly, Katara complied. "You got me."

* * *

"Here, you can have this back."

Although the _Stalker_ was not primarily a research vessel, it was equipped with a standard laboratory for small scale scientific endeavors. It was intended for use during patrols of dull sectors of space, to give the crew aboard something to do when nothing of note was going on. Now it was in use analyzing the alien equipment brought up from the planet, and far more thoroughly than the locals could accomplish with preindustrial methods. A researcher just finished scanning Sokka's space shield, and was now handing it back to its owner.

"Done already?" Sokka asked, accepting the return of his space shield. "I thought you might do some more stuff with it?'

The researcher checked a screen showing the results of the scan. "The metal is composed of various alloys, all of which are in our database. There aren't any special functions hidden in it, so all that's really there is a hunk of metal."

"Well it was part of a floor," Sokka said, remembering when he had acquired this little souvenir. "So I can keep this now, right?"

"If you really want to," the researcher answered, though he really didn't know why anyone would bother. "To us it's just scrap that would be recycled."

Sokka eyed another one of the machines in the laboratory, which was subjecting the space armor to a more extensive scan. "How long before that one is done?"

"Could be all day, maybe well into tomorrow," the researcher answered. "Someone will notify you when the scan is complete."

"Sweet," Sokka said. He turned and started to walk away. "I'm going to go find my friends now."

If the researcher had given a response, Sokka didn't wait long enough to hear it. He was already heading out the door and into a corridor, walking back down it to return to the mess hall where he had left the others behind. When Sokka arrived he discovered that Toph and Zuko had already left, but there was a friendly crewman that pointed Sokka in the right direction to find them. After walking through a few more corridors Sokka found the right section, where all the guests from the surface were staying for the time being.

It was quite loud in the large room Sokka found, as it seemed that waterbenders inside were enjoying a game that involved hurling water at each other at high speeds. All that rushing water was like being near a small waterfall, smothering out the lesser sounds like someone walking around or conversations further than five feet away. Sokka walked around the playing waterbenders and found Zuko and Toph in the far corner, yet somehow going around didn't stop someone from accidently splashing him, much to his chagrin.

When that inevitable splashing happened Toph was laughing at him. "Every single time, that always happens."

"Story of my life," Sokka said, wringing water out of his hair. "So what's going on here?"

"Well I got a bath for one thing," Toph answered.

Now that he knew to look, Sokka noticed that Toph was surprisingly clean and dirt-free. "I thought you liked having a healthy coating of earth?"

"I do," Toph said. She held up a ball of clay, just barely bigger than her hand. "This was all the earth I had on me."

"Thought it would be more," Sokka muttered.

"I know, right?" Toph said. She shook her head and got back on subject. "Anyway, I needed some earth and I didn't want to ask for it. So I bathed and had a waterbender collect this for me."

"Couldn't you do it yourself?" Sokka asked.

"See… that's the thing…" Toph muttered. She held out her hand and then stretched her fingers apart, yet nothing happened to the ball of clay. "I can't."

"Oh…" Sokka muttered. With a moment of thought the implications of this revelation struck him, and his eyes went as wide as they could. "Oh!"

"Yeah, this is a problem," Toph said. She slipped the ball of clay into her pocket. "My earthbending isn't working, which means my secret weapon isn't going to work either."

"Secret weapon?" Zuko questioned.

"Just a little something up our sleeves," Sokka said, deliberately being vague to Zuko. Sokka looked at the waterbenders still playing their game, and past them he got glimpses of Qin doing some firebending. "Okay, water and fire are still working, so why not earth?"

"I think it turned off while we were coming up here," Toph said. "It might have been why I got so sick. At first I thought it was from all the vibrations, but now I'm not so sure."

"Of course!" Sokka said, snapping his fingers. "We're so high up, it must have broken your connection to the Earth."

"Are you sure about that?" Zuko asked. "Because it sounds like you're just guessing to me."

"Hear me out," Sokka said. "We know that firebending and waterbending tap into celestial sources, the sun and the moon. When an eclipse blocks them, benders lose their abilities. The only logical equivalent for earthbending is the Earth itself, so leaving it would have the same effect as an eclipse."

"So if I get back to Earth, my bending will come back!" Toph said.

"If I'm right, it should," Sokka said. "We'll find out when we leave this ship and go home."

"Not just yet," Zuko said. He looked at Toph and nodded. "I wasn't counting on having earthbending here anyway. All I need here is Toph's feet."

"Ah…" Sokka muttered, his eyes narrowing. "Doing a little reconnaissance up here?"

"The discreet kind I can't do myself," Zuko said. "So Toph, are you still up for it?"

"Of course I am," Toph answered, crossing her arms. "Get me around this ship, and who knows what I'll find."

* * *

Han Solo had almost felt relieved when the last stormtrooper got out of his ship, finally having a moment when they might not be discovered. But Chewbacca reported a proximity alarm on the remote sensor display, which the wookie had installed into the smuggler hold after the last time they hid here. Someone had climbed on top of the _Falcon_ , and with everyone else off the ship and/or busy it was up to Han to investigate. So he headed for the access hatch to use the lift, getting topside to see what had triggered the alarm.

He hadn't been expecting to find a teenage girl looking at the cockpit. "Hands up."

The girl turned around, saw the blaster Han was holding, seemed to recognize it as a threat in spite of not knowing what it was, and raised her hands. "You got me."

Han looked past the _Falcon_ and saw the imperial officer distracted by someone else, and he pointed at the open hatch on the _Falcon_ 's hull. "Inside."

The girl slowly walked over to the hatch and stood on the lift, and Han stepped on while his blaster was now pointed at the girl's back. With his foot Han hit the switch to activate the lift, and it brought them down into the ship. From the bottom it was a short walk into the main hallway, and Han stomped his foot on the floor five times. In front of them the false deck plating was lifted from below, and Han pointed into the dark and empty space within. Han heard Chewbacca make a growling noise, which had the girl hesitate while Han wanted the wookie to shut up.

"In there," Han ordered.

Although reluctant to comply, given the growling and the dark spaces and the blaster at her back, the girl did go into the hold. Han was right behind her, still aiming the blaster as he climbed down, and Chewbacca lowered the deck plating back into place. At first it was completely dark inside the hold, until Han flicked a switch to turn on one small light. It was just barely enough light to make out the girl's face, and for her to see Chewbacca's. That sight prompted her to start screaming, only for Han's hand to cover her mouth to muffle the sound.

"That's enough of that," Han said, keeping the sound down as much as he could. "When you stop, I will let go."

The girl nodded.

Han took his hand away, and there was no need to put it back. "Alright miss, what were you doing on top of my ship?"

Chewbacca growled something.

"Well obviously she was spying," Han said to him, and then went back to the girl. "But the why, and the what for, that I want to know."

"You understood that?" the girl questioned.

"I'm the one asking questions miss," Han said.

"It's Katara by the way," she corrected. "And excuse me for not taking you guys at your word."

This time Chewbacca laughed.

"So she's right about that," Han admitted. "But not for the right reason."

"Well now I know I can't trust you empire guys," Katara said.

This time Han laughed, and he slightly lowered the tip of his blaster. "Lady, if this is what it takes to make you suspicious, you have no idea what the Empire is capable of."

"So I figured," Katara said. She slowly turned around. "Enlighten me."


	6. Calm Before the Storm

Chapter 6: Calm Before the Storm

Darth Vader had to admit, he preferred this Fire Nation over the rest of this planet's population.

Sure the latest source of information was an admittedly biased one, since this Ambassador Qin was a high ranking official of that nation. Still the philosophy of rule through strength was a familiar one, similar to the way the Empire governed most of the galaxy. Opposition to self-righteous enforcers of peace also resonated with him, as this Avatar served much the same role as the long gone Jedi Order. It was only natural for the strong to dominate the weak, and Qin knew it just as well as Vader, albeit on entirely different scales.

They had been talking in a rather small conference room not far from the shuttle bay, as at the time Vader had only expected the conversation to last five minutes. It had been half an hour when he checked the time, after figuring that Qin could be a useful tool on this world. He was certainly more malleable than Zuko, even without use of the Force on the weak minded. Now Vader wished there were more people like him among those that had been contacted so far, for they would make controlling this world far easier.

"I've kept you here long enough," Darth Vader said. "There are more pressing matters requiring my attention at this time."

"I understand," Qin said. "I appreciate you taking the time to see me."

Darth Vader walked out the door without another word, putting his attention to the next task at hand. There was the matter of the relief shipments being brought to this planet, an operation that had been conceived and implemented without his approval first. This seemed the appropriate time to discuss it with the good Captain Zed, and so Darth Vader went to the bridge to find him. When he arrived he found the captain overlooking the lower operations level, every officer busy coordinating the operation to the best of their abilities.

"Captain," Vader said as he approached him. "Report."

"Everything is on schedule," Zed assured. "The smuggler ships have each received a supervisor and have landed on the planet. Local authorities have been informed of their presence, and the relief supplies are being unloaded as we speak."

"All to win the favor of a backwater planet significant only for its location," Darth Vader said. "Need I remind you that we can only remain here so long before we are detected? Soon this planet will be out of alignment with its star and make it much more difficult to remain concealed here."

"I'm aware of that," Zed assured him. "At any time we can cut our losses and leave the smugglers behind. If they are detected, we will disavow any connection to them."

"So you say," Vader said. "However, if we are detected before then, there may be… problems…"

Zed didn't like the way Vader's voice slowed, as if he were somewhere else right now. "My Lord, is something wrong?"

Although Vader did hear him, the captain's words seemed irrelevant now. How could they possibly be, when there was a large disturbance in the Force at this very moment? It was like a shockwave passing through this sector of space, from the far side of the border and heading into imperial territory. Either an entire planet's worth of people had been annihilated simultaneously, or a single enormously powerful individual had perished. A second such disturbance moments later confirmed it for Vader, some very serious shit was happening on the other side.

Darth Vader turned back to Zed. "Captain, is the stealth probe transmitting?"

Zed walked over to one of the control stations, looking over the shoulder of an officer analyzing incoming transmissions. "We are receiving telemetry from the probe now."

"Monitor it closely," Vader ordered. He could see the looks many bridge officers had, but ignored them all. "I have good feeling about this."

* * *

"Holy crap they've got a lot of weapons down there."

Toph and Zuko were currently taking a leisurely stroll through the _Stalker_ , heading down one of the corridors that they were permitted to pass through. To the ship's crew also using the corridor it looked like they were just heading somewhere else, unaware of what they were actually doing here. Toph was reading the vibrations passing through the floor, painting a picture of the levels below for her to see without eyes. She did not like what she was seeing down there, and neither did Zuko when she described it to him.

Right now Toph figured they were two floors above an armory, judging by all the weapons kept down there. Entire racks of those handheld blasters the soldiers carried were lined up along the walls, several hundred of them just waiting to be used. Many sets of armor were stored away, enough for an army of stormtroopers. There were also some very strange vehicles in the next room over, looking like tanks that had legs instead of treads. Just barely in sight on the floor below that, there were larger vehicles that resembled metal mammoth-dinosaurs.

One thing was certain, if these visitors had come for peace, they were ready for war.

Zuko tipped his head and whispered. "Does it look like they're getting ready to use them?"

Toph stopped and put her back and hands against a wall, pretending to be casually leading back so she could focus on the finer details. "Not really. It seems like all the stuff down there is mothballed."

"That's a good sign," Zuko said, leaning back and pretending to relax. "If they aren't expecting to fight, we might not have to fight."

"Do you really think they might just leave us alone?" Toph whispered.

"No," Zuko admitted. He stood up straight and resumed walking beside her. "Still, better to know what we might be up against."

"We've only covered a tiny bit of it," Toph pointed out.

So they continued their exploration of the ship, and were able to access most of the area on his level. Some locked doors prevented physical access to certain sections, and Toph's feet told her they were private crew quarters, some of which she really wished she couldn't see into right now. Beneath them she found parts that appeared to be plumbing, but for all sorts of things beyond the usual use for pipes. They ran in between the separate floors, and she figured they must serve some vital purpose for the ship to function.

After going everywhere they were allowed to go, and not wanting to look suspicious walking in circles, Toph and Zuko headed back to the section they had started from. Almost everyone they knew visiting the ship was there, from the water tribesmen to the more recent firebenders. Most of them were sleeping in smaller rooms adjacent to the main larger one, as it was apparently the night shift according to the ship's clocks. Only a handful of people were still up at this hour, relaxing in the relative peace and quiet after a long day.

In one corner of the main room they found Sokka sitting on his space shield, with his space sword balanced on his crossed legs. There was a small bowl of water on the floor in front of him, and Sokka was staring into his reflection on its surface. Sokka held his hand above the water, and he jerked it straight up. At best there was a slight ripple, but that was just from the vibration from him moving around. Sokka repeated the motion several times, then sighed and went back to staring at the water. Then he heard footsteps and turned to see Toph and Zuko.

"What 'cha doing?" Toph asked, stopping right next to Sokka.

Sokka leaned back, his face flushed as he rubbed his head. "Nothing really… Well… It's kind of silly."

"Spit it out Snoozles," Toph insisted.

"I was trying to waterbend," Sokka admitted. He saw Zuko's odd look and heard Toph's snicker, and waited for them to finish before continuing. "I know it's silly, go ahead and laugh."

Toph did, though only a little bit. "Okay, I have to ask, what makes you think you could waterbend here?"

"Well it's those waterbenders Zuko brought up here," Sokka answered. He stood up and picked up his space sword and shield. "They say their bending has been better than usual since they got up here. I couldn't really tell from looking, so I just have to go by their word on the matter."

"You can't tell if their bending is above normal?" Toph questioned.

"Well it's not as extreme as we've seen before," Sokka said, remembering the last time bending abilities went through the roof. "The stuff these guys were doing was stuff Master Pakku does all the time, just being done by people that say they usually can't do it."

"Well we are closer to the moon," Zuko said. He looked at the ceiling, imagining a full moon that was slightly larger than normal. "That might be enough for waterbending to be more powerful."

"That's what I was thinking," Sokka said. "And I was hoping it might be enough to let me waterbend too. But I guess slightly more moon power isn't enough to turn nonbenders into waterbenders."

"I think we'd actually have to go to the moon for that," Toph said. She jabbed Zuko in the arm. "Any chance you could convince our hosts to go for that little field trip?"

"I doubt it," Zuko answered. "Besides, we have more pressing matters. Like what are we going to do if this is all a big sham?"

* * *

"So it's all a big sham?"

Aang was understandably upset about this, though not at all surprised by the news. He had just finished listening to Katara's story, who had been caught and released by some guy that called himself Solo. Apparently he let her leave that ship in order to tell his side of the story, one of a resistance movement fighting against the very Empire knocking at their door. This Solo person believed that the Empire would not hesitate to oppress this world, if it should become practical for it to do so. From the way he spoke, it seemed that Solo had the experience to make that claim.

They were in the palace when Katara told him everything, but in one of the smaller rooms where there weren't any palace staff able to overhear them. Azula and Long Feng had joined them here for this private report, and it had only provided evidence for the suspicions they already had. The peaceful purposes the Empire claimed to possess, the wish for nonviolent coexistence between their peoples, it was all a charade propped up as a prelude to invasion. They had no idea when it was going to happen, but were certain that it was coming.

"Seems to be," Katara agreed. "Solo didn't have to tell me his life's story or let me go. If he wasn't lying about his situation, he seemed to be taking a risk of me tipping off his enemies."

"If he wasn't lying," Azula repeated. "For all we know he could be part of some elaborate test."

"Do you really believe that?" Long Feng asked.

"Not really," Azula admitted. "I'm just putting the possibility out there. We still know very little about who we are dealing with."

"Noted," Long Feng said. Then he turned towards Aang. "Given what we know now Avatar, I recommend that we politely ask the Empire to leave. It may yet be early enough for them to consider pulling out before deciding to invade."

"And if that doesn't work?" Katara asked.

"We fight for as long as we can," Azula suggested. "Sure we'd probably lose, but it's better than surrendering."

"So we should bluff first," Long Feng said. "That Vader fellow seemed to buy everything I told him about what the Avatar is and what Aang can do. If he's as superstitious as I would like to believe, perhaps he'll buy that Aang can call upon ancient Avatar spirit powers to destroy that ship."

"You know I don't have that," Aang said.

"That's what makes it a bluff," Long Feng said. " _We_ know the limits of your bending and the Avatar State, but they don't."

Aang thought about that, and he shrugged. "It's worth a shot."

"So we ask first, then our bluff, and then we fight," Katara reiterated.

"Sounds like a plan," Aang said.

"And if it comes to the last part?" Katara asked.

Long Feng crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "We make peace with our higher power."

* * *

Han Solo wasn't one to believe in the Force, but he had to admit, it would have been very useful right now.

Allegedly the Force allowed its users to communicate across the cosmos, simply by broadcasting their thoughts to one another no matter where they happened to be at the time. It would have come in handy for this situation, when having a Star Destroyer over his head required him to observe radio silence. He didn't dare send a transmission from here to the Rebel Alliance, not when such an act would be begging for the Empire to intercept it. So unless someone could suddenly use the Force, Han couldn't send word of what he had found.

Between that Katara girl and the natives Wedge and Wes described in this ruined city, there was more to this world than it appeared. There was a supernatural element at work here, albeit of a different variety than what that Kenobi person had insisted on with the Force. Han had been skeptical of Katara's claim of mastery over water, until he had seen her do it with his own eyes. Wedge and Wes reported seeing natives control dirt and rock, albeit from a distance so they couldn't be certain of how the locals managed to do it.

That was why Han wished he could get a message out to the rebels. If the Empire recruited these kinds of people into the military, well it would be a very bad day when the two sides clash next. Any permanent base on a terrestrial world would be vulnerable, should the enemy have the ability to effortlessly move underground and attack the foundations of any buildings the rebels hid inside. And if the Alliance was dead set on building their new base on Hoth, all that snow and ice made the ability to control water a very serious threat.

"Make sure the hyperdrive won't quit on us again," Han said to Chewbacca, both of them outside the smuggler hold while the imperial officer was busy outside the ship. "We're going to need it."

Chewbacca grumbled something, picked up his tools, and went to the _Falcon_ 's engine room to work.

Meanwhile Han went to the cockpit, and there he opened a short range comm channel to Wedge and Wes outside. "Guys, make up whatever excuse you need to ditch that guy and get back in here. We're leaving."

There was no response from the other end, which Han figured was so that no one would notice one of them talking to someone that shouldn't be here. It might take some time for those two to lose the imperial and get back to the ship, so Han got to work prepping the _Falcon_ for takeoff. He had the main engines warming up by the time three quick beeps went off in the comm system, a warning signal coming from Wedge. So Han ran for the smuggler hold and lifted the false deck plating, just as Chewbacca arrived to get inside with him.

They were underneath and got the false deck plating back in place just in time, as they heard several sets of footsteps coming inside the ship. Wedge and Wes were back in the _Falcon_ , along with the imperial officer and the two stormtroopers. While staying quiet Han put on the spare headset again, listening in while Wedge left the comm channel open. If something was about to go terribly wrong, as they usually did around him, Han would know when to act. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that, but Han figured that it most likely would.

"That's the last of it," Wedge said.

The imperial officer checked a list on a data-pad. "Yes, everything appears to be in order."

"We've completed our terms of the arrangement," Wedge added.

"And earned your payment," the officer said. He reached into a pocket and took out a dozen chips of varying sizes. "Ten thousand credits, in assorted currencies and bearer bonds, as promised."

Wedge accepted the chips and pocketed them. "You know, if there were more respectable jobs like this, I might have to reconsider going legit."

"That is your concern," the officer said. He turned around and started heading out of the ship. "Have a good day."

"Don't you want a lift back to the Star Destroyer?" Wedge asked.

"That will not be necessary," the officer said, still heading for the exit ramp. "I'll be going on the next shuttle up. Feel free to depart at your convenience."

"Will do," Wedge said. He waited for the officer and the stormtroopers to exit the _Falcon_ , and then he closed the ramp after them. "Finally, thought they'd never leave."

Wes let out a sigh of relief, and then stomped on the false deck plating five times to get Han's attention. "They're gone."

The deck plating was lifted and Han climbed out. "Let me see them."

"Here," Wedge said, handing over the credit chips. "I would make sure they are legit before spending any of them."

"Oh I'm sure one of these has a tracking program in it," Han speculated, examining the chips before pocketing them. "But we can debug it later, right now we are getting out of here."

* * *

"I've had enough, let's get out of here."

Toph was not in a good mood the following morning, or at least what felt like the following morning anyway. Was there really such a thing as morning in space, when the motions of the sun and earth became a matter of perspective? Toph was even more blind than usual on the matter, since she couldn't even feel the sun's rays on her skin in this floating metal fortress. Having just had a rough few hours of sleep, Toph was going to call it a morning. No one disagreed with her, or no one was willing to tell her otherwise.

Being deprived of her earthbending was really starting to get to her now. That deep hole in her gut wasn't going away, and trying to sleep with it only made the feeling worse. After a fitful night of bad sleep, complete with nightmares of having lost her earthbending permanently, Toph was downright miserable when she got out of bed. The only solution she could think of was to get off this giant ship and back down to Earth, even if she had to drag Sokka and Zuko to do it. In fact, she was just about ready to do just that.

"We're coming, we're coming," Sokka assured, right behind Toph and heading into a hallway with her. He looked back into the room they were coming out of. "Well I am, Zuko I'm not so sure of."

"Now just wait one minute," Zuko insisted. He was in the middle of a conversation with the water tribesmen in the room, nodded when it was settled, and then hurried over to Sokka. "I just had to take care of one last thing."

"Oh that reminds me," Sokka said, holding up a finger. "I need to grab something before we go. I'll only be a minute."

Without bothering to hear any objections from them Sokka was hurrying down the hallway, although trying not to look like he was in a hurry. He quickly found the laboratory where he had left his space armor, which was the reason for coming back here. Sokka opened the door and calmly walked inside the lab, finding the researchers still at work with their advanced machines. He walked up to the researchers and looked at what they were doing, even though he had no idea how to interpret what was on their video screen.

"Sorry to interrupt," Sokka said, lying through his teeth. "But are you guys done with my armor? I kind of want it back now."

One researcher shut down the machine and looked at Sokka. "Sure, we were just about done with it."

"Already?" Sokka questioned.

"Oh yes," the researcher said, pressing a button to open a compartment in the machine, containing Sokka's space armor. "It is identical to the one scanned before."

"You already had one of these?" Sokka asked.

"Well not us personally," the researcher said, taking the armor out and bringing it to Sokka. "We had colleagues on the Death Star that got their hands on armor just like this one. They lost it, but were able to upload their findings to the imperial network before the whole space station blew up."

Sokka didn't like the sound of this Death Star, or the sound of something blowing up a space station. "So you didn't really need this armor?"

"It never hurts to verify findings," the researcher said. "We now have some idea how it was manufactured, and what materials it is composed from."

"Neat," Sokka said, accepting the armor and putting it on without delay. "Glad it could help."

Now that he had his armor back Sokka left the laboratory, heading back down the hallway to find Toph and Zuko. They weren't where Sokka had left them, and he grumbled about them going on ahead and leaving him behind. So he went straight for the shuttle bay, figuring that he could just meet up with them there. Sure enough when Sokka arrived he spotted them in front of a shuttle, with Zuko speaking to a pilot while Toph stood next to them. Sokka was a little winded when he arrived, but managed to catch his breath when he reached the others.

"You just couldn't wait five minutes, could you?" Sokka complained, stopping when he got to Toph and Zuko.

"You knew where we were going," Toph said.

"Not the point," Sokka said, but then shook his head. "Never mind, hey Zuko, are we good to go?"

Having apparently reached an agreement with the pilot, Zuko turned around while the pilot went inside the shuttle. "You are. I'm not."

"Okay, what did I miss?" Sokka asked.

"I'm staying up here," Zuko said. He put a hand on Sokka's shoulder, noticing that he had the space armor back. "You don't need me to make sure Toph gets home safely."

"Well if you insist," Sokka said, going around Zuko and towards the shuttle. "You're the only one who really wants to be here anyway."

"Exactly," Zuko said. He then jerked his head toward the shuttle. "Now get going before that pilot changes his mind."

Sokka and Toph walked up the shuttle's ramp to get inside the craft, and they had their pick of the empty seats available. Once they had sat down and strapped in the pilot made sure no one else was coming, and then he went into the cockpit and made the ramp close. A few moments later the shuttle lifted off the floor and headed out the shuttle bay doors, passing through the atmospheric force field and out into space, engines flaring as it accelerated. Zuko watched the shuttle leave, wondering if he hadn't just made a big mistake.

* * *

Aang was sitting on the roof of the palace, legs crossed and hands together and his eyes closed. The very center of Ba Sing Se was the only place to get real perspective in this city, at least with regards to meditation. There was certainly a lot on his mind to meditate about, so many questions that he figured would never get answered. In times like this Aang would have asked for advice from his past lives, but what could they possibly tell him that he didn't already know? Those lives had no context relevant to current events, and so the present had nothing to gain from looking to the past.

His meditation was interrupted by a loud sound in the distance, and he looked to see one of the larger ships take off from the ruined part of the city. It was the largest of the three that had arrived here, and all its contents had been delivered directly to the people of Ba Sing Se. One delivery had solved the city's food issues for the entire year, and Aang got the feeling that this was only the smallest fraction of the resources at the empire's command. But that ship was leaving at an awfully fast pace, as if the people inside had a good reason to get out of here.

Another interruption of his meditation was footsteps from behind, and Aang turned his head to see Katara approached. "Hey."

"Copper coin for your thoughts?" Katara said.

Aang sighed and looked forward, wrapping his arms around his knees. "I just… feel really small right now."

Katara sat down next to him, but was looking up at the rising ship. "Yeah, the world just got a whole lot bigger, didn't it?"

"Massive," Aang specified. "And I have nothing to go on for how to deal with it. Not even my past lives, because none of them had to deal with this."

"Well they are your _past_ lives," Katara said. "I wouldn't expect them to help when you're being dragged into the future kicking and screaming."

Despite everything, Aang laughed. "You're right. I need to look forward, not backward."

"So what do you want to see ahead of us?" Katara asked.

Aang's sights moved to the middle ring. "I think I want to see this Solo person for myself, see what his opinion of that Vader guy is."

* * *

" _Lord Vader, please come to the bridge."_

That was something not heard very often inside a Star Destroyer, a summons for someone that usually made the summons. Whatever it was had to be very important to be worth inconveniencing Darth Vader, for if it wasn't worth his time the captain risked certain death. But Darth Vader was sure it wouldn't come to that, not if the matter was what he suspected it might be. Without delay Darth Vader walked through the _Stalker_ , taking the main turbolift up to the bridge to find out if his suspicions would be confirmed.

When the doors opened Darth Vader saw Captain Zed at the communication station, looking over the shoulder of the officer that worked there. "Report."

Very pleased with what he saw on the station's screen, Zed was smiling as he saw Vader approaching. "My Lord, I believe this is what you wanted to find."

The screen was displaying information collected by the stealth probe launched from the _Stalker_ , having found its way deep into enemy space. The probe had found and patched into an extranet relay orbiting a brown dwarf, and superior hacking technology had obtained full access to every file passing through that part of the network. While there was an overwhelming volume of data to examine, much of it garbage like explicit images and poorly written fanfiction, one specific subject dominated the vast majority of the information.

Their tyrant was dead.

Killed on some worthless backwater of a planet, the alien that ruled with an iron fist had truly met his end. The details of the killing were sparse to nonexistent, because none of the minions brought to the planet with the tyrant had survived. Only the telemetry from the tyrant's spaceship remained, and only up to the point when the spaceship had been destroyed. Apparently the tyrant had some cybernetic augmentations surgically installed, and the spaceship had been monitoring him for medical complications until the end.

But not only was the tyrant dead, his father had perished as well. This had been confirmed by the spaceship telemetry as well, just before the signal was lost. That death put an end to the family reign of an empire, and there was much rejoicing across the stars. But there was no clear successor to take over, for the tyrant had assumed that he would never die. Therefore most of the chatter on the extranet was about who might seize control, from the more cunning warlords to the powerful generals to even the mysterious slayer of the tyrant himself.

"This changes everything," Darth Vader said. He could certainly imagine the possibilities this development presented. "It is going to be chaos over there until a new ruler emerges."

"Well that's a load off our backs," Zed said. "Even if we're detected, they'll be too busy fighting amongst themselves to do anything about us now."

Although in agreement about that assessment, Darth Vader was thinking bigger. But first he took over the station and did some more research, scanning the data for any detailed information on who slew the tyrant. Rumors and speculation were all over the extranet, but there were no concrete details on who did the deed. Whoever it was hadn't seen the need to reveal himself to the galaxy at large, as if that one little backwater planet was all he truly cared about protecting. If that did not change, the rest of enemy space was up for the taking.

"Continue monitoring their transmissions," Darth Vader ordered. With that task managed by the officer at this station, Vader turned to Captain Zed. "Send word to the _Executor_. I want Admiral Ozzel to assemble Death Squadron for immediate deployment to this system."

"That's a lot of overkill," Zed said. "Any one of those ships could conquer this world with ease, why do you want all of them here?"

"This world is only the beginning," Darth Vader said. He walked over to the large windows at the front of the bridge, looking out at the planet and the star eclipsed behind it. "Here we will build up our forces, while the other side crumbles into factions fighting each other for power, and when they are at their weakest we will attack."

"Ambitious," Zed said, having followed Vader to the windows. "But that's opening a second front. Can we really spare the forces for an invasion while also fighting the rebels?"

"The rebels are a minor threat," Darth Vader said. "This is an opportunity that will not last. The chaos will only remain until a strong leader replaces it with order, and when that happens the moment of weakness will be lost."

"So it's now or never," Zed figured.

"Precisely," Darth Vader said. He kept on looking at the planet, holding his hands behind his back. "We will give the locals one chance to willingly cooperate. If they resist, well, this world will still become our harbinger."


	7. True Colors

Chapter 7: True Colors

It was early in the afternoon and Appa was flying over Ba Sing Se, with Aang and Katara taking a ride on the sky bison. They soon crossed over the innermost wall and flew over the middle ring, heading straight for the cleared area shared with the lower ring. From the air they could see the two remaining ships that had landed there, although the larger of the two was taking off and slowly rising upward. That didn't really matter since Aang was headed for the smaller ship anyway, which was conveniently still on the ground.

Meanwhile, inside the _Millennium Falcon_ , the three men and a wookie wanted to follow the other smuggler ship's example and get the hell out of here. Han Solo _had_ the ship prepped for takeoff, but when he tried to engage the engines something somewhere exploded. Wedge and Wes had to use a couple of fire extinguishers to put out a small blaze, whereas Chewbacca got to work finding out what part had failed this time. Given all the patchwork and mods the _Falcon_ had gotten over the years, it could take a while.

A loud thud brought the two together.

"What now?" Han grumbled, head and shoulders deep in a maintenance hatch cutting off burnt wiring. "Chewy, get up there and find out what hit us!"

Appa had landed on top of the _Falcon_ and was lying comfortably right above the engines, soaking in the heat coming out of it after an unsuccessful launch. Aang and Katara leapt off the bison and onto hard metal, just as a roof hatch opened not far away. Aang's jaw dropped at the sight of a large furry man rising out of hatch, wielding a weapon that resembled a high tech crossbow. Katara, having met Chewbacca once before, was startled but remained calm in front of the wookie, who was aiming that weapon at them.

"Friendly!" Katara said, holding up her hands and making peaceful gestures at the wookie. "We're just here to talk."

Chewbacca grumbled something that neither of them could understand, and he jerked his weapon toward the hatch.

While walking over to the hatch with Katara, Aang found the sight very surreal. "When you mentioned this creature, I didn't believe he was real."

When all three of them were on the lift Chewbacca hit the switch, lowering them into the _Falcon_ with the hatch closing after them. When they reached the bottom Chewbacca pointed down one path, grumbled something at Aang and Katara, and then walked away in the other direction. The two teens watched until Chewbacca stopped at a junction, removed a panel from the wall, and started tinkering with the apparently broken components inside. When Chewbacca noticed that they were still there, he growled and jerked his head in that same direction he had pointed at.

"I guess he's done with us," Aang figured.

"Apparently," Katara agreed. She started walking down the path that Chewbacca had pointed towards. "Han must be this way."

Sure enough that path led to the rear of the _Falcon_ , and they just barely avoided tripping over Han's exposed legs. He was still deep in the maintenance hatch trying to fix things, having to lie on his back in order to do it. A power relay had burnt out here and scorched some conduits next to it, all of which had to be replaced with third-hand parts. The repair work was going well enough all things considered, but it still needed to have a part replaced. After a muffled curse Han reached out from the hatch, looking for something he needed by touch.

"Where's that damn screwdriver?" Han muttered, feeling for the tool with his hand. He felt someone press it into his palm. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Aang said.

There was a muffled thud inside. "Ow…"

"You okay?" Aang asked.

Having been startled by the unfamiliar voice, Han had instinctively tried to get up, and he had knocked his head against a bulkhead. He quickly finished the work inside, and then got out of the hatch. "Who are you?"

"I'm Aang." He reached down to offer a hand. "Katara's told me about you."

"Uh huh…" Han said. He took Aang's hand and let him pull Han up, and then turned away to go somewhere else. "Don't care. Trying to leave."

"We just want to talk," Katara said.

Han was in no mood for any of that. Instead he hurried straight for the cockpit, not caring that Aang and Katara were following him there. Han got to the controls and fiddled with some buttons and switches, restarting the takeoff sequence for what felt like the tenth time today. Suddenly all the lights in the cockpit went dark, so Han slammed his fist on a panel and the lights came back on. Then he put on his headset and turned on the comm system, needing to make sure no one was in a compromised position before trying to light this thing.

"Chewy, how're we doing back there?" Han asked. There was an excited growl for a response. "Alright, here we go!"

More buttons were pushed, switches were flicked, and a faint humming resonated throughout the _Falcon_. Then there was a boom, the ship shuddered, and everything went silent. Han cursed and beat on the controls again, but this time that did not fix the problem. A roar came through the comm, and even Aang could tell that it was pissed off. Two other voices came through as well, reporting what had happened in their respective areas of the ship. Han yanked the headset off and headed out of the cockpit, grumbling all the while.

"How can this get any worse?" Han grumbled.

Aang noticed some new and temporary shadows in the cockpit, and he looked out the window at something in the sky. "You had to say it."

* * *

Meanwhile it was early morning in the Fire Nation, and for the populace it appeared be the start of just another ordinary day. Well except for the two smuggler ships that had arrived yesterday, and they were now leaving back the way they came. Those ships had delivered enough food to feed the entire Fire Nation for nearly a year, and enough raw materials to finish the capital's reconstruction. There was a bright future ahead, and this was just the beginning of it. So as far as ordinary days went, this was looking to be a good one.

They couldn't have been more wrong.

It started with the shadows that dotted the capital, starting large and slight then turning to small and dark as time went on. The shadows got the people to look up at the sky, and they saw many vessels descending towards them. But these were not the small shuttle seen before, but vessels three times as large and much bulkier. They were like big metal boxes with wings attached to the top, flying with all the grace of a thrown brick. The people looking up were frozen in place, dreading what the vessels were bringing to the capital.

Five of these vessels landed in the palace courtyard, evenly spaced along the perimeter. Two dozen more of them landed in the capital, and more were on their way down from the sky. They were landing primarily in key intersections of the city's roads other large spaces, wherever there happened to be enough room to land. Naturally the locals using those roads and wide spaces retreated into their homes, fearing the worst when those vessels opened the large doors on their sides and revealed their contents.

Each vessel came with three dozen soldiers inside, all in the same white armor carrying the same black blaster. Those soldiers marched out of the vessels and took positions around them, forming rings of men around the vessels to guard them from the locals. The exception to this was the soldiers coming from the vessels in the courtyard, their combined squadron of six score soldiers massing in wedge formation in front of the palace. But they did not approach any closer, seemingly waiting for a signal before starting an attack.

Inside the palace the Fire Lord was receiving constant updates, and from one of the unfinished towers he saw the soldiers at his doorstep. "So it begins…"

In response to this blatant show of force the Fire Nation responded in kind, having red armored troops march out of every barracks in the capital. Hundreds of men and women in uniform marched down the streets, claiming the routes in between each of the landed vessels. People inside their homes saw the troops on the warpath, off to confront the soldiers in their city. Inside the palace the Fire Lord's personal honor guard was mobilized, thirty of the most elite firebenders in the nation taking point at the entrance of the palace.

Where the two factions met the soldiers and the troops stared at each other, skull face plated helmets looking into the eyes of white and black helmets and vice versa. The commanding officers on both sides were hesitant to give the order to fire, both in the sense of blasters and the very literal fire. Not when this could still be resolved without resorting to armed conflict, however small that possibility was and dwindling with each passing moment. Each side chose a representative to meet at the palace, their respective military commanders in charge of the forces here.

At the palace the front doors opened just wide enough for one man, with General Shinu standing there in front of the honor guard. On the other side an imperial officer stood in front of the soldiers, his grey uniform with a commander's pin stripes standing out amongst the formation of stormtroopers. For a time the general and the commander looked into each other's eyes, each trying to guess at what the other planned to do in this confrontation. That time quickly came to an end, and the first to speak was on the Fire Nation side.

General Shinu did not give anything away, crossing his arms and glaring at his counterpart. "Alright, you have our attention."

Commander Gradd did not bother to hide any smugness. "Don't worry. We will have far more than that."

* * *

Captain Zed was grinning.

It felt good to be back on the job, back to what he had been doing before Darth Vader commandeered his Star Destroyer for this little escapade. When not assigned special details or engaged in Death Squadron joint missions, the _Stalker_ was usually sent out into the uncharted territories on the other fringes of Imperial Space. That default mission was to seek out new worlds and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one had gone before, and bring those worlds and civilizations under the Empire's heel.

On the _Stalker_ 's bridge Zed watched the crew hard at work, coordinating the effort to bring yet another world into the Empire. In the center of the bridge there was a hologram of the planet, displayed in different shades of blue with red dots where the landing parties were deployed. Right now those red dots were clustered in two places, the two capitals on opposite ends of the planet. It was standard procedure to subjugate the largest population centers first, as that usually got the rest of the locals to fall in line.

While looking at the hologram Zed heard the bridge doors opening behind him, exactly on schedule. "Ah, Zuko, so glad you could join us."

He really didn't have a choice in the matter, what with the half dozen stormtroopers that insisted Zuko come here. "What's going on?"

"Oh I'm just taking a moment to show proper courtesy." Zed took a step to the left, letting Zuko see the hologram with the western hemisphere rotating into view. "Soon you will have the honor of becoming a part of the Empire, whether you like it or not."

The meaning of that was all too clear. "So this is an invasion after all."

"I'll admit, invading wasn't the original goal," Zed said. "But as they say, no plan survives contact with the enemy. The situation has changed, and our tactics have changed with it."

"They'll have to change a lot," Zuko assured. He would have liked to strike down Zed with a fireball right now, were it not for the stormtroopers aiming their blasters at his back. "We're going to fight your empire for every step on our soil."

"I'm sure you will," Zed conceded. He gestured to the stormtroopers, who then closed in tighter around Zuko. "I should warn you though, more advanced civilizations than yours have tried to repel us. They have all failed."

"So far," Zuko said.

Zed made a noncommittal grunt and shrugged. "There may yet be a world that succeeds. But I can assure you, it will not happen here."

And with another hand gesture from Zed, the stormtroopers took Zuko away.

* * *

As Appa flew across Ba Sing Se yet again, the view from the sky became worse more and more. Aang could see many of the large landing crafts descending into the city, two dozen of them landing in the upper ring alone. Three more had already landed on the palace roof, and the soldiers deployed there were already securing a perimeter. And far beyond them Aang could see more landing craft in the distance, likely heading for key locations in the middle and lower rings. From the look of things, this was the beginning of a full scale invasion.

"This is bad," Aang muttered to himself. "This is very bad."

In his haste to respond to this all but announced alien invasion, Aang had hurried straight to Appa and took off without a second thought. It wasn't until he passed over the wall to the upper ring that he realized he had left Katara behind, who had spent a few minutes on the _Falcon_ 's hull trying to wave Aang back down. By then it was too late to turn back for her, when these next few precious moments could decide everything. Aang had to get back to the palace as quickly as possible, and he was already halfway there.

Over the upper ring Aang could see dozens of soldiers already emerging from their landing crafts, but thankfully were staying around their transports instead of marching down the streets. Aang could also see Ba Sing Se's city guard mobilizing, although only at a fraction of the size it was during the height of the war. While the city's troops moved to intercept the invading soldiers, there were Dai Li agents watching from every dark corner of the upper ring, ready to pounce on the enemy at the first opportunity.

In record time Aang reached the palace, leaving Appa at the entrance while he ran into the building with the wind at his back. There were guards on the move in the main hallway, none of whom challenged Aang on his way to the throne room. He soon reached the big fancy doors and entered the throne room, finding Azula and Long Feng reviewing constant updates delivered by courier. Also in the room was Hakoda, and he was being told a lot more than what was going on right now, and he was none too pleased with the situation.

"Seriously, why did no one bother to come get me," Hakoda complained. "I leave for a few days and everything changes."

"You were gone?" Aang questioned, stopping at the table in the middle of the throne room.

"You didn't notice?" Hakoda asked.

Aang shrugged. "It's been pretty hectic lately."

Hakoda scoffed and shook his head. "Never mind, we'll talk about it later. Now we need to act fast before they act first."

"Agreed," Long Feng said, finished with the most recent update from the latest courier. "As this appears to be a true invasion, our first choice is no longer viable."

"Asking them to leave isn't going to work now," Azula said. She looked around Aang, and realized that someone was missing. "Didn't you leave with Katara?"

"Yes, I know I left her behind." Aang ignored the looks that got him, having more important matters right now. "So we're going with the bluff then?"

"Once their leader arrives here with his demands," Long Feng specified.

Sure enough, soon another courier came rushing into the throne room. "Sirs, Ma'am, another one of those ships landed just outside."

Already the occupants of that landing craft were coming into the palace, five imperial officers accompanied by twenty stormtroopers marching behind them. They stopped at the threshold to the throne room, the officers studying the group inside. Aang took a stand first in opposition to the invaders, with Long Feng and Azula behind him while Hakoda stood behind those two. All four of them crossed their arms, standing in defiance against the invaders. But the invaders weren't backing down, not when they only saw four people opposing them.

Aang made eye contact with the officer in the middle, the obvious commander what with the most complex markings on the uniform. "So this is it? We didn't say yes quickly enough? Now you're just going to take over anyway?"

"Yes," the commander answered.

"And it wouldn't matter if I asked you to leave?" Aang continued.

"Probably not," the commander admitted.

"Well then I might as well warn you," Aang said, trying to sound as confident as possible. "You have no idea what you're getting into."

"Uh-huh," the commander said. "Such as…?"

"This," Aang said. He held his arms apart, clenched his fists, and his eyes and tattoos glowed bright blue. **"The Avatar State!"**

The commander raised an eyebrow at the sight, yet did not appear fazed by the deeper voice Aang now possessed. "Neat trick."

Taken aback by the low key reaction to the Avatar State, Aang hesitated to make his next move. Normally entering the Avatar State had the superstitious folk cowering in terror, with only few exceptions from those not easily intimidated. The mere threat of using it usually had people doing whatever Aang asked of them, but that was not the case here. It soon dawned on Aang that these invaders had none of the context for either standard reaction, and that they only saw the glowing eyes and tattoos as some kind of magic trick.

To correct this oversight a demonstration was required, something to display the power that everyone else knew to expect from the Avatar State. Aang opened his hands and fire spewed from them, and the flames encircled Aang in a thick ring of fire. He then clenched his fists again, pieces of the floor broke off and floated around Aang in another ring. Air rushed in and formed a sphere of wind around him, lifting Aang off the floor. But there was no water to summon to complete another elemental ring, so Aang made due with three out of four.

Now the commander had some understanding of what the Avatar State was, and he quickly gave an order to the stormtroopers behind him. "Open Fire!"

All of the stormtroopers took aim and fired their blasters, all targeting the glowing boy before them. Aang was already reacting to the commander's order, pulling more rock from the floor to make a floating barricade just in time to block. Red blaster bolts converged on Aang's position, the vast majority of them hitting the rock and leaving scorch marks in it. A few of the red bolts slipped through gaps in the rock, but most of those missed the target. One red bolt struck an arm, burning Aang just behind his left wrist.

Aang let out a cry of pain, and in the deeper voice of the Avatar State it sounded like a mythical beast vowing vengeance. Aang stomped a foot on the floor, and a vast web of cracks spread from it towards the enemy. The floor in front of Aang shattered and the stormtroopers plummeted into the level below, some of their shots hitting each other as they fell. For good measure Aang made the next floor below collapse, dropping the enemy even further into the palace underground, hearing the stormtroopers scream all the way down.

"aaaaAAAAaaaahhhh!"

When he was finished Aang left the Avatar State, and his no longer glowing eyes immediately looked at the burn on his arm. "Man that hurts." After that complaint he turned around toward the others. "Is everyone okay?"

Fortunately when the commander had given the order, Long Feng had raised a stone wall to shield himself and the others. Now he put the stone back where he found it, and he was none the worse for wear. "We are fine. But we have to act fast."

"Asking didn't work, and that guy didn't fall for the bluff," Aang said. "We're left with our third option."

"We fight," Azula insisted. "For as long as we can."

* * *

It was chaos in the Fire Nation.

Commander Gradd had demanded the Fire Nation's unconditional surrender. General Shinu had refused. There had been no argument over the terms, or even a halfhearted attempt at peaceful diplomacy. Instead the commander gave the order to open fire, and the general gave the exact same order. Inside the palace the firebenders attacked first, but everywhere else the stormtroopers shot first. Blaster bolts and fireballs were soon flying everywhere the eye could see, transforming the capital city into a warzone.

From their landing crafts the stormtroopers advanced down city streets, marching in formation while firing at every firebender in their sights. The armor that Fire Nation troops wore stopped the first few blaster bolts, until burn holes were numerous enough to let successive shots through, burning into the soft flesh underneath. In the short time their armor lasted the firebenders threw as much fire as they could manage, drenching the stormtroopers in flames and heat that quickly seared through their armor to burn the skin below.

But the stormtroopers were far more expendable than the Fire Nation troops, and they pressed forward in spite of their fallen comrades. Those that were cooked inside their armor were trampled on by their still marching comrades, maintaining a high rate of fire on the enemy. Soon firebenders were falling every minute to blaster fire, and those still fighting had to retreat. So they took cover behind buildings and threw fire around the corners, burning the stormtroopers as they tried to get the troops back in the line of sight.

Inside the palace the fighting did not last long. Since the firebenders under General Shinu attacked first, a third of Commander Gradd's stormtroopers were cooked alive before any of them could shoot back. When they did open fire many of the firebenders fell, but by then half of the stormtroopers were dead and more were dying. Half of the palace antechamber ended up in flames, and the other half ended up with scorch marks all over the walls. In five minutes all that work building this part of the palace had just gone up in smoke.

During all the chaos general and the commander took shots at each other, Shinu throwing fire and Gradd shooting blaster fire. The blaster bolts pierced the fireballs, neither of them making any resistance to the other, and so both were hit by the other's attacks. Shinu set Gradd's uniform on fire, and Gradd shot Shinu in the chest. Shinu collapsed from the resulting wound in his chest, and Gradd screamed in pain from the blaze burning him alive. When the fight was over Shinu was still breathing, while Gradd was a freshly burned corpse.

Barely holding on to consciousness, Shinu was breathing heavily and clutching a wound just to the right of his heart. "Take that… alien…"

Shinu's sight was blacking out as he lost consciousness, and the last thing he saw was Fire Lord Ozai arriving on the scene.

"Get him to the infirmary." Ozai looked at the entrance to his palace next. "And get those doors closed."

Before the second order could be carried out there was blaster fire coming in from outside, all of it confined to the narrow middle of the antechamber by the barely open doors. Everyone inside the palace was out of the narrow firing line, so the blaster fire only struck the back wall of the antechamber. At Ozai's command the firebenders all threw fire at the doors, filling the narrow gap with an inferno that spilled outside and burned anything that got too close, blindly attacking in the vain hope that the enemy was close enough to be burned.

There was a halt in the blaster fire, and Ozai seized the moment to strike. He quickly charged a bolt of lightning, stepped in front of the doors, and fired his lightning through the gap. He couldn't see whatever it was that he hit out there, but he could hear dying screams and shrieks of slightly electrified foes. There was even an explosion somewhere in the mix, likely a blaster being overcharged by lightning and blowing up. Ozai fired a few more bolts of lightning through the doors, electrocuting more of the stormtroopers out there.

Ozai stopped shooting lightning when the firebenders got the doors closed, and it became safe in here for the moment. "Barricade the entrance. Weld those doors shut if you have to. We are not letting those invaders back in again."

* * *

Captain Zed was scowling.

The reports from the landing parties were coming in steadily, and while the news was mostly good there were a few troubling details. The populace of both capitals had unanimously rejected the Empire's demands, and had quickly turned to violence to defend their world. While that development had been expected, the casualty rate was unusually high. The worst part was that the two commanders in charge down there had turned up dead or missing, and precious time had been wasted replacing them in the chain of command.

Still the invasion was progressing, if slower than on most worlds. More troop transports were being deployed to reinforce the ones already on the ground, and the _Stalker_ had far more than enough stormtroopers to fill them. And if the casualty rate continued to be high, well then there was still the option of bombing the place and getting it over with, but Darth Vader had not granted authorization to use that extreme just yet. Regardless of what actions had to be taken, Captain Zed was certain that conquering this world would not take long.

But there was still a potential wild card here, so Zed turned to one of the officers on the bridge. "Lieutenant, are any of the smuggler ships still here?"

"Just one sir," the lieutenant reported. She checked the computer to be precise. "Only the _Vortando_ is still on the surface. The rest have all gone into hyperspace."

" _Vortando_ …" Zed muttered. "Wasn't that the YT freighter?"

"Yes it is sir," the lieutenant answered. "Do you want the specifications?"

"No, that won't be necessary," Zed said. "Just keep an eye on it."

Zed dismissed the thought that was nagging him. Sure the YT1300 freighter wasn't exactly common these days, but this one couldn't be the same freighter captured by the Death Star. This one had taken a job provided by the Empire, and not even the rebels were stupid enough to do that.

* * *

"I knew it was stupid to come here!"

Han Solo was understandably upset. After the seventh repair job today the engines were finally working right, and the _Millennium Falcon_ was just about to take off. A couple of warning lights were flashing at him, but that was nothing new. Han was in the cockpit working the controls, whereas Chewbacca was monitoring the engines along with Wedge and Wes. It looked like they were finally going to get off this rock, with only a few minor things left to deal with. The biggest problem now was the local still aboard, standing in the cockpit right behind Han.

"So you're just going to leave?" Katara asked.

"Yup," Han answered.

"Right in the middle of a full blown invasion?" Katara continued.

"Yup," Han answered again.

"You do realize we need you?" Katara said.

"Nope," Han answered. "You need an army, and that I do not have."

"There must be something you can do!" Katara pleaded.

"This," Han answered. He put on his headset and turned on the comms. "Chewy, get this girl off my ship." There was a long growl coming from the other end. "Fine, Wedge, you get this girl off my ship."

"I'm going," Katara said, realizing that she wasn't going to make any headway here. "Clearly I'm wasting my time here."

"That you are," Han said, taking off the headset and turning his attention back to the ship.

Katara left the cockpit and ran through the ship, heading back to the spot that she had entered from earlier. She found the lift that would take her to the dorsal hatch, and spotted the floor switch that Han and Chewbacca used to operate it. Katara stood in the lift and put her foot on the switch, but then nothing happened. She stomped on the switch but still the lift would not move, and Katara felt a sickening pit in her stomach. Something was stopping the lift from working, and she could certainly guess at the reason why.

"This can't be good," Katara muttered. Then she felt the whole ship rumbling, and a sudden thrust upward knocked Katara off her feet and slammed her back into the floor. "Yup, this is not good."

The _Millennium Falcon_ was finally taking off, and what few safety features this ship still had prevented the exits from being opened during liftoff. More upward acceleration pinned Katara to the floor, but that didn't stop her from trying to scoot her way out of the lift. The ship ceased its acceleration and it flew at a steady speed, and Katara was able to get up and move about. Katara ran back to the cockpit as quick as he could, and when she got there she saw clouds through the window, all of them moving straight down.

"And this is even less good," Katara said.

Han looked back and saw Katara. "You're still here?"

"No thanks to you!" Katara yelled. "You took off before I could get out!"

"Your fault for not leaving with your little friend," Han said. He sighed, turned his chair towards the other one, and offered that seat to Katara. "You might as well get strapped in. It will be a bumpy ride. And before you ask, no, I'm not turning my ship around."


	8. Internal Issues

Chapter 8: Internal Issues

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No!"

"Are we there yet?"

"NO!"

Toph waited a little bit longer this time. "Are we there yet?"

Sokka felt a hard thud underneath him. "Yes!"

The shuttle just landed in the Fire Nation capital, specifically on the caldera rim not far from the observatory. Instantly Toph's world expanded beyond the confines of the shuttle, her feet receiving vibrations from the ground beneath her. Immediately Toph unbuckled her safety harness and was heading for the exit, and the shuttle's ramp couldn't lower fast enough for her. As soon as the gap was wide enough Toph leapt through it, colliding with the ground and rolling herself in the dirt, getting herself as filthy as she possibly could.

A few seconds later Sokka walked down the ramp, and couldn't help but smile. "I take it you're feeling much better?"

Toph either didn't hear him or simply didn't care. She got on her back to have her fingers and toes dig into the soft dirt, as if to grab hold of the Earth itself and never let go of it again. While Toph laid there on her back the dirt molded around her, and she appeared to sink a few inches into the ground, as if to disappear into it entirely. That void Toph had felt up in space was filling in like a landslide, her link to earthbending being restored. Toph basked in the dirt for what felt like eternity, until Sokka started prodding her with his foot.

"Are you going to be there all day?" Sokka asked.

"Can I?" Toph asked back.

Moving shadows got Sokka's attention, looking up and seeing many landing crafts descend upon the capital. "I don't think you have the time."

Inside the shuttle the pilot had just received a transmission from the Stalker, containing new orders for him to carry out. "Understood."

Flanked by two stormtroopers that came along for security, the pilot exited the shuttle with a blaster in hand. All three guns were then trained on Sokka and Toph, and one of the stormtroopers made the demand. "Both of you, hands up."

"And there it is," Sokka grumbled. Fortunately he was already holding his space shield, but couldn't reach for his space sword without getting shot. "I was wondering when the double cross would come."

"Now!" the stormtrooper demanded, both standing just beyond the end of the ramp. "Hands Up! Or we shoot!"

"Hold your ostrich-horses!" Toph shouted back, getting up on her feet. "See I'm holding my hands up… like THIS!"

Toph threw both hands upward, and pillars of stone rose up beneath the stormtroopers and launched them into the air. The pilot, although frightened, opened fire on the target he had been aiming at. Sokka had his space shield up to cover his face, and several blaster bolts hit it and left scorch marks in the metal. Then Toph brought her hands together and the two pillars she raised collided into each other, with the pilot squished in between them. There was a very loud crunch sound, and Sokka did not want to take a closer look.

"Kay, now what?" Toph asked.

Sokka pointed to the capital city under attack. "We need to do something to help down there."

Even from here Toph could feel the vibrations of the closest landings, vague though it was at the edge of her sight within the caldera. She glanced in that direction, and then back to Sokka. "Yeah no, we're not doing that."

"Why not?" Sokka asked.

"Pretty sure that's a lot of guys down there," Toph said, not needing to see them to know it. "I'm good, but I'm not that good."

"Point taken," Sokka admitted. "So what do you suggest we do?"

Toph pointed a thumb at the shuttle. "Well you're the tech guy. Figure out how that thing works. Maybe we can use it against them?"

Sokka glanced at the shuttle, and did not like the idea. "Yeah… last time I tried something like that, the ship exploded."

"Weren't you watching the pilot while he flew the damn thing?" Toph asked.

"I might have stolen a peek or two," Sokka admitted. He thought about the matter, and then shrugged. "Okay then, let's give it a try."

* * *

Back aboard the _Stalker_ a portion of the Star Destroyer was under lockdown, particularly to keep the locals aboard from moving about and causing trouble. All of them were kept in that converted mess hall they were staying in, and the adjacent sections were kept under heavy guard. Although it would have been a lot simpler to just execute them via firing squad and be done with it, the stormtroopers were under orders to not let that resource go to waste. They didn't like the orders, but no stormtrooper would dare disobey Darth Vader.

After his little meeting with the captain on the bridge Zuko was brought back to the guarded section, all but thrown back in with all the other locals. The stormtroopers locked the door once Zuko was inside, completely certain that he wouldn't be getting out unless Captain Zed wanted to see him again. Inside the room there were many worried discussions about what was going on, though individuals stopped talking while Zuko walked past them to meet up with Qin. Seeing Zuko alive calmed them a bit, but that meant little considering they believed they would all be killed soon.

"Is everyone in here?" Zuko asked.

"Yes sir," Qin answered. "We just did a headcount, everyone is accounted for."

Zuko turned to face the crowd, a mixture of firebenders, waterbenders, and nonbenders from both the Fire Nation and the Water Tribe. "Everyone! Your Attention Please!"

All the idle discussions ceased, and everyone faced Zuko.

Now that he had their attention, Zuko continued. "I'm sure you've all figured out what's going on by now. The invasion has begun, and they've locked us in here for safekeeping. Our friends and families are fighting for their lives back home, and we have to do our part to stop this."

The scrawny waterbender Sangok raised his hand. "How are we supposed to do that? They took away all of our water before we knew we were being locked up."

"Not all of it," Zuko said, smirking while he said it. He held a hand in front of his chest and pointed down. "While Toph was here she found pipes in the floors. There are a lot of thirsty people on this ship, and they all need the water in those pipes."

"Oh…" Sangok muttered, understanding where Zuko was going with this. He noticed the other waterbenders realizing the same, and the mood shifted drastically. "Yes."

"We tear it all apart!" Zuko commanded. "Take the water! Take the ship apart! Take out everyone that stands in our way!"

Together all the waterbenders beckoned to the unseen water below them, yanking upward with both arms to pull the water to them. The floor rumbled under the pressure of an impending torrent, before cracks started to form and spread beneath their feet. The waterbenders repeated the motion again and the floor ruptured, geysers of water erupting from broken pipes and flowing up into the room. All that water now swirled around the waterbenders, all they could possibly need to fight a battle to destroy the enemy from within.

Although the floor had been torn asunder, the damage hadn't quite reached the level below. It had however triggered an alarm throughout the ship, so the waterbenders acted fast to remedy the situation. Together they shaped the water into a wide and fast flowing ring, and brought it down into the damaged floor. At high speed the flowing water cut into the metal, and after a few grinding moments a large circular piece of metal fell out into the floor below with a loud crash against the next floor down.

The waterbenders shaped some of the water and froze it into ice slides, connecting the two floors so that everyone could get down safely. Half of them had made it down when the doors opened, several stormtroopers entering and being shocked by the sight of a large hole in the floor. Firebenders struck while the stormtroopers were still surprised, Zuko himself striking down one while the other firebenders cooked the rest alive inside their armor. Although the first opposition had been dealt with, more were surely on their way.

"Let's get moving people!" Zuko ordered. He jumped onto an ice slide and slid down to the bottom. "This is only going to get harder from here."

On this floor the door out of the room was locked, so the waterbenders combined all the water into a single geyser and aimed it at the door. The impact of all that water was too much for the door to sustain, breaking off from the doorway and flung across a corridor into the opposite wall. The waterbenders hurried through the broken doorway first and reclaimed their water, just in time to create an ice shield when more stormtroopers opened fire. The ice absorbed the blaster bolts and turned into steam, and any resulting holes were quickly replaced with more ice.

Zuko walked out into the corridor, and pointed in the opposite direction from the firing stormtroopers. "The bridge is this way. If we can take it, we stand a chance."

* * *

Darth Vader stood on the _Stalker_ 's bridge.

He had been taking the time to receive an update on the situation planet side, and was somewhat annoyed with the slow progress down there. But then a ship wide alarm went off and had his attention, and the bridge crew immediately knew where the alarm had been triggered. It appeared that the locals aboard the ship had inflicted severe damage to the floor of their room, enough to reach the level below them and escape into the ship's corridors. For a moment Darth Vader was a little impressed, able to admire such ingenuity.

"Increase the guard around the turbolifts and vital ship systems," Darth Vader ordered. He turned and headed for the exit. "I will personally deal with this insurrection."

In the main turbolift Darth Vader headed down to one of the middle levels, the one that the locals had broken their way into. He walked down the main corridor that ran the length of the Star Destroyer, ignoring the stormtroopers running by in response to the alarm. Soon enough Darth Vader started hearing blaster fire up ahead, along with rushing water and burning fire and much painful screaming. There he made a right turn and then a left turn soon after, arriving at the spot where locals clashed with stormtroopers.

Darth Vader drew his lightsaber and activated it, the red beam igniting as he walked into battle.

Someone propelled sharp spikes of ice at him, which evaporated when they hit the lightsaber. Plumes of steam erupted from the lightsaber, and the blade flickered a little while the water disrupted the power current. After the first five ice spikes nearly shorted out the lightsaber Darth Vader switched tactics, holding his free hand in front of him and calling upon the Force. Now the ice spikes simply stopped moving in front of Darth Vader, until he telekinetically turned the spikes around and propelled them back to their source.

One of the locals was impaled by the ice, surprising the rest and drawing their attention to Darth Vader. More of the ice spikes were thrown at him and then repelled back at the locals, except this time the locals melted the ice and reclaimed the water to use again. So the locals then threw a wide wave of water down the corridor, which quenched the blaster fire the stormtroopers were shooting. Through the Force Darth Vader pulled on the floor, peeling up the deck plating into a curved barrier that the water collided against.

With his lightsaber Darth Vader cut the curved deck plating at the bottom, and then with the Force he launched the severed metal forward. Three of the locals were crushed by the moving metal, and the rest backed away at the sight of what Darth Vader did. Then he turned the Force on the ceiling above the locals, pulling off large pieces that fell to crush anyone standing underneath. However in tearing apart the ceiling Darth Vader also ruptured some pluming, spraying water on the locals that were still standing there.

Their supply of water refreshed and growing in volume, the locals that commanded the element put it to use. They unleashed a torrent of water that completely filled the corridor, washing away all the debris as it flowed towards the target. Yet that wave still came to a halt to the power of the Force, stopping just in front of Darth Vader's hand. Suddenly the water froze into a solid mass of ice, expanding beyond the corridor's confines and cracking the walls, ceiling, and floor. The corridor was completely blocked, at least until someone could melt through the ice.

Darth Vader expected something considerably lethal to happen next, yet the ice in front of him did not move. "What are they planning?"

It was difficult to see through all the ice, what with large cracks at every possible angle conspiring to obscure the view. From what little that could be seen it appeared that the locals had left, apparently using the ice to delay pursuit while they took another route. So Darth Vader started giving new orders to the stormtroopers, sending them to the likely places the locals were going and cut them off there. Darth Vader then turned off his lightsaber and put it away, not needing it at the moment, and then walked off to another part of the ship.

He wasn't in any hurry to get there. After all this was a space ship, there were only so many places they could go.

* * *

"It's got to be around here somewhere."

Zuko was understandably frustrated with the situation, although he couldn't let himself show it to anyone. The momentum his assorted benders and nonbenders had since their escape had been halted by the arrival of one man, and they had been forced to take a detour to get around him. Although the path directly to the bridge was no longer available, a secondary destination was still available to them. Thanks to the intel Toph provided while she was here, Zuko had a good idea how to go from here to the ship's armory.

Unfortunately they had already lost three of their waterbenders, some of their firebenders were in bad shape, and a bunch of nonbenders were dead. That just left poor Sangok and two others bending the water they had, so Qin and the firebenders took point from here to protect them. They were needed when they came across more stormtroopers, and these ones were met with fire that cooked them alive. But then they lost a few firebenders to blaster fire, and they didn't have the numbers to handle the losses they were taking.

"There!" Zuko yelled, pointing at a door. He got to it first and a waterbender was right behind him. "Sangok, can you get it open?"

"Just a moment," Sangok said.

Sangok forced as much water as he could into the doorframe, squeezing it all into all the little gaps and tiny cracks in the metal. He then froze the water all at one, ice expanding inside the door frame and applying extreme pressure within. It popped the door right off the frame, and when Sangok melted the water the door fell inward. Sangok rushed inside and had his water at the ready, but when he saw what was inside all of his water splashed onto the floor. Some of the others could see through the forcibly opened doorway, their jaws dropping at the sight.

Zuko walked in next, and was quite pleased with what they found. "Alright everyone, store's open, take your pick."

This was indeed the armory, with all the space age weaponry one could imagine, just sitting there waiting for the taking. Many shelves of blasters lined one of the walls, with the idiot-proof operation of point and click that anyone could understand. While the nonbenders helped themselves to the blasters Zuko looked at some stored stormtrooper armor, but decided that it wasn't worth the time to put on. That decision was proven correct when he heard blaster fire in the corridor, as more stormtroopers had arrived to gun them down.

"Alright everyone," Zuko said. He picked up a blaster and held it above his head. "Let's see how they like it!"

Everyone still outside hurried into the armory, quickly getting behind the nonbenders and their pilfered weapons. Stormtroopers were right behind them, and ran into a wall of converging blaster fire and the more literal fire. Soon the first of the stormtroopers fell into a heap of dead bodies, while the rest stopped at the door and fired through it. A pair of nonbenders fell to blaster fire before everyone else moved, getting to safe spots where the wall could shield them. But from cover it was difficult to aim the blasters, having to shoot blindly around corners.

From their cover Zuko and the firebenders threw more of their element, combining their smaller fires into larger plumes of flame that curved into the open doorway and shoot out into the corridor. The fire struck more stormtroopers and cooked them alive, and the ones not struck backed away a few feet to get away from the heat. Then Sangok turned some water into a few dozen ice shards and blindly flung them out the door, impaling a few stormtroopers and hearing their screams of pain all the way from inside the armory.

Sangok picked up a blaster in one hand and sheathed his other arm in a long tendril of water. "Okay, we got their weapons. Now what do we do?"

"Back to the old plan," Zuko answered, holding up the blaster he took. "We make for the bridge, and wreck everything along the way."

* * *

"Okay… if that goes there… and that goes there… it should do that… and make me do this…"

Sokka was muttering to himself inside the shuttle's cockpit, trying to make sense of all the knobs, levers, buttons, and other assorted parts of the controls. He only vaguely remembered little bits from looking over the pilot's shoulder, when he had been told to get back in his seat and let the pilot do his job. And it wasn't like Sokka could ask the pilot for instructions now, what with him having come down with a sudden case of death. Even if the pilot was still alive, asking him probably would have ended up with the shuttle blowing itself up.

"How's it going in there?" Toph asked, standing just outside the shuttle.

"Not very good!" Sokka admitted, having to yell to get his voice to carry out to Toph. "Maybe you ought to get in here and give it a try!"

"No thank you!" Toph yelled back. "If I can help it, I'm never leaving the ground again!"

"Can't blame you for that," Sokka muttered, and got back to work.

Sokka took another half an hour studying the controls, long enough to realize he wasn't going to learn anything more without trying something. So he pressed some buttons, turned a few knobs, and flicked some switches. That got the shuttle to rumble as the engines turned on, and the shuttle slowly lifted off the ground. The ramp remained open and let in more of the noise from the engines, drowning out Toph's surprised scream when the shuttle disappeared from her sight. Sokka ignored her and tried to focus on what he was doing, mentally praying that it would work as he imagined.

"Okay… easy now…" Sokka muttered. He gently moved a small lever. "Careful…"

"Any day now!" Toph yelled.

The shuttle started to vibrate, and Sokka's gut sank. "Aw crap!"

Sokka ran out of the cockpit as fast as he could, right before the shuttle shot forward. He found himself being flung toward the rear end of the shuttle, and he immediately fell out of the still open exit. He hit the ground and tumbled for quite a ways, nearly reaching the inner edge of the caldera rim before he stopped. Sokka ended up on his belly looking towards the capital, seeing the shuttle flying without a pilot. The shuttle tipped on its side, turned downward, and quickly crashed into a rather unfortunate landing craft.

The collision utterly destroyed both ships, although Sokka was a little disappointed when there wasn't a violent explosion. Sokka was even more disappointed that this had happened at all, and now he didn't even have a captured shuttle to show for his efforts. But for the moment Sokka's concern was the sheer pain he felt all over, having gotten bruised from the sudden meeting with the ground. He lay there groaning until Toph got to him, who he now realized had the right idea staying outside, not that it really mattered now.

"I felt that from here," Toph said, stopping to crouch beside Sokka, however little comfort that might be. "It was like a little earthquake."

"Well we learned something today," Sokka grumbled. He slowly pushed himself up to get on his feet. "When it comes to spaceships, I have no idea what I'm doing."

"You know how to crash them," Toph said.

"I don't think that's a special skill," Sokka said.

"It would be on the big one," Toph said. "If you could crash that one this would be all over."

"I wish," Sokka said. "Too bad we can't tell Zuko to do just that."

* * *

"Okay, new plan."

Zuko and his little group were not making any headway toward the bridge, being cut off by stormtroopers at every turn. It seemed that the enemy had figured out that the bridge was the destination, and used their knowledge of the ship to block off every possible route to get there. Right now the nonbenders were firing blind from behind cover, keeping up the suppression fire with stolen blasters to protect the benders from enemy fire. But it wasn't going to hold for very long, and more stormtroopers were arriving by the minute.

Zuko hated to admit it, but his original plan was not going to work. One alternative crossed his mind. "Let's just crash the damn thing."

He got a surprised look from Sangok. "What?"

"This thing has engines to keep it up here," Zuko said. "We go there instead, wreak them as best we can, and die knowing that we saved the world."

"That's insane!" Sangok yelled.

"I know that," Zuko said. He took a second to get a few shots in. "But we're going to die anyway. We might as well take all of them with us."

"Do you even know where the engines are?" Sangok pleaded.

"Vaguely," Zuko admitted. He remembered seeing the ship's engines from outside during that first shuttle ride here. "They're below the bridge in the main part of the ship. They're also big, so they can't be hard to miss."

"Fine," Sangok said. "But if this blows up in our faces and we end up in the afterlife together, I get to say 'I told you so.'"

"Fair enough," Zuko admitted.

At Zuko's command the group broke away from the current engagement, falling back into the corridor that they had used to get here. They got back to the last intersection and took a different route, one that wasn't blocked by stormtroopers and took them down to a lower level of the ship. Along the way the waterbenders seized more water from hidden pipes, tearing gashes in the wall where they pulled the water out through metal. They often hurled that water around corners ahead of them, expecting to run into more stormtroopers every time.

They found a path down several levels easily enough, but then started meeting resistance again. It appeared that the stormtroopers were being redeployed to intercept them again, and had access to faster routes to get through the ship. At first it was merely small groups of stormtroopers that got in their way, easily dealt with by stolen blasters and bending. But then larger groups got into position at defensible points, and the advance was brought to a grinding halt, much to Zuko's ever growing frustration.

Blaster fire from up ahead brought down a few more nonbenders, and the odds only got even worse. Now they were down to just Zuko, Qin, three firebenders, five nonbenders with stolen blasters, Sangok, and two more waterbenders. They simply didn't have the numbers to keep taking casualties like this, and it was getting harder to avoid losing more people. Mistakes were piling up faster and faster, and they were getting people killed. Even now another two nonbenders fell to enemy fire, and the stormtroopers started advancing from their position.

"So much for taking them with us," Sangok said, hurling some ice spikes at the enemy and hearing a few scream with pain.

"I know," Zuko said, that familiar feeling of guilt settling in his gut. "I guess we make our last stand here."

While still behind cover Sangok had a view of the corridor they came from, and he spotted something that only made things worse. "That might be over sooner than you thought."

Zuko looked down in that direction, seeing the same thing Sangok noticed, and a shiver went down his spine. "Not again."

Walking towards them through the corridor was Darth Vader, cutting off the path back the way they came. Darth Vader was all alone as he approached the battle, as him alone was all that would be needed here. With the stormtroopers on one side and Darth Vader on the other, there was no place left for Zuko and the others to go. It wasn't quite the trap that Darth Vader had in mind, but it would serve his purposes well enough. Darth Vader activated his lightsaber as he made the last few steps, just in time to use it.

Nonbenders with stolen blasters opened fire on Darth Vader, which was the first thing he expected to happen. The Force guided his hands as he moved his lightsaber back and forth, intercepting every single blaster bolt that came his way. The lightsaber reflected the blaster bolts back the way they came, hitting the people that had been firing them at Darth Vader. In seconds all of the armed nonbenders were dead from their own shots, leaving only the benders and Qin still alive, shocked by what they had just witnessed.

"That's just not fair," Sangok complained.

Zuko and the firebenders all threw flames together, combining their attacks into a thick plume of fire that filled the corridor. Yet Darth Vader merely held one hand in front of him, and the fire impacted an unseen barrier conjured through the Force. The flames dispersed and Darth Vader was untouched, much to the growing terror of the remaining benders, seeing a metallic man surrounded by fire yet not being burned. He then resumed his walk towards the locals, saw his foes taking defensive positions, and then threw his lightsaber at them.

The lightsaber spun round and round in the air, slicing one firebender in two and kept on going. It also cut off another firebender's arm, and spooked the third one enough to leave his cover and be shot down by stormtroopers. The waterbenders had created a wall of water between them and Darth Vader, but it didn't matter when he used the Force to pull the lightsaber back to him. On the way back the lightsaber struck a waterbender from behind and took his head off, and plunged through the collapsing wall of water before reaching Darth Vader's hand.

However when the lightsaber passed through the water there was an explosion of sparks, and the red blade was out when Darth Vader caught the lightsaber. Sparks continued to spray out from the lightsaber hilt in short and sputtering bursts, until he turned the weapon off and put it away. Darth Vader decided to deal with fixing the lightsaber later, for now he kept his attention on the matter at hand. Only four locals remained pinned between him and the stormtroopers, which would not take much longer to deal with.

Darth Vader reached toward the dwindling group with one hand, and a waterbender suddenly felt a tight grip on his throat. The water he had in motion fell to the floor, his concentration broken as he was being strangled from afar, reaching for his neck to pull at something that wasn't physically there. Darth Vader stretched it out long enough for the rest to figure out what was going on, seeing the look of horror on Zuko's face. The waterbender collapsed right before he died, and then Darth Vader was up close to the three locals that remained.

"I recommend that you surrender."

* * *

"We surrender!"

Sokka had his hands in the air, staring down the barrel of one out of many blasters aimed at him and Toph. Apparently the little incident with the runaway shuttle had not gone unnoticed, and the closest detachment of stormtroopers had been dispatched to find out what the hell happened. They quickly found Sokka and Toph, the pilot and two more stormtroopers restrained, and deduced that the two locals were responsible for the whole affair. At the moment the stormtroopers had their blasters aimed at Sokka and Toph, needing only an excuse to open fire.

"Not!"

Toph raised her fists toward the sky and a ring of rock rose up around her and Sokka, shielding them from harm when the stormtroopers opened fire. She then shattered the rock into large pieces and scattered it in all directions, spraying the stormtroopers with a barrage of rubble. The attack pushed back the enemy and knocked them down, forcing them to take a moment to get back up and get their aim back on target, a moment that Toph used to raise another stone wall and hurl that straight at the stormtroopers.

Unprepared and inexperienced for dealing with earthbending attacks, the stormtrooper formation was shattered and many of its members crushed by rock. Those that remained standing soon found the very ground giving way beneath their feet, a result of Toph bending the rock and dirt into fine sand that couldn't support any weight. They were waist-deep when they hit the bottom of the affected earth, which then solidified and trapped the stormtroopers in the ground, at least until someone came along to dig them out.

But the stormtroopers still had their blasters in hand, so Toph raised another stone wall to block their shots. "Now what do we do?"

Sokka looked at the capital city, some of which was burning. "We do something about the invasion."

"Got any specifics on that?" Toph asked.

"I guess we go to the palace and help the Fire Lord," Sokka said. He saw the odd look Toph was giving him. "Yes I know how that sounds."

"Bet you thought you'd never say it," Toph said.

"Yup," Sokka said. "Well make us a hole we can take the shortcut out of here."


	9. Rock Versus Laser

Chapter 9: Rock Versus Laser

All things considered, it could have been worse.

Darth Vader had personally escorted the remaining prisoners to the brig, however few of them that had survived the battle. Of the few dozen locals that had come aboard the _Stalker_ only Zuko, Qin, and some unremarkable waterbender that Darth Vader never caught the name of, remained alive. It had taken the gradual slaughter of all their brethren to bring the three into submission, and they were now of very little threat to the ship and its crew. Determined to salvage something from this mess, Darth Vader ordered that these prisoners be kept alive.

After leaving the prisoners in cells, and ordering the crew to drain all nearby pipes, Darth Vader went back to the site of battle to inspect the damage to the _Stalker_. It was actually quite impressive for a pre-industrial people, the way they had ripped water from the pipes to tear the walls and floors asunder. The casualty rate on the imperial side was also remarkable, further proving that the supernatural abilities of the locals could be quite useful in unconventional circumstances, especially if turned on those that did not fully understand it.

But it was clear that considerable work would be required to exploit those abilities, this little incident being proof of that. The entire population would have to be ground under the Empire's heel first, just to stamp out the defiant nature that led to a hole in a perfectly good mess hall. A couple million dead ought to do the job, targeting those most likely to resist imperial rule and fight when there was no hope of victory. With that thought and others like it going through his mind Darth Vader left the damaged part of the ship and headed for the bridge.

Along the way Darth Vader spotted an officer approaching him, and when they intercepted they started walking side by side. "Yes, what is it?"

"Priority transmission for you," the officer answered. "The maximum security clearance codes have been confirmed."

"Send it to my personal chamber," Darth Vader said, and he walked off in a different direction while the officer left to carry out the order.

Deep within every Star Destroyer was a special room, reserved for Darth Vader's use should be happen to be aboard, and inaccessible to anyone else if he was not present. This room served as his living quarters for his often short stays, containing all the specialized equipment needed for maintenance of his suit's systems, the only thing keeping Darth Vader alive. It also contained a holographic protector with a direct hyperwave link to Coruscant, which Darth Vader used for sensitive communications with Emperor Palpatine.

Once there Darth Vader kneeled on a circular pad, and a large hologram of the Emperor's face and cloak appeared. "What is thy bidding, my Master?"

The Emperor's wrinkled face frowned down upon Darth Vader. _"There has been a disturbance in the Force."_

"I have felt it." Darth Vader looked up at the Emperor's hologram. "It is an opportunity that we cannot afford let pass. I have already taken steps to exploit it."

" _Without my permission."_ The Emperor breathed in deeply before continuing. _"I know what you've been doing out there. The risk is too great to be acting alone."_

"The situation is under control, as I'm sure your agents have told you."

" _For now."_ Although the Emperor conceded that, he still looked displeased. _"Still, this diversion has consumed too much of your time already. It is distracting you from your primary tasks."_

"The menace remains beyond our reach." Darth Vader knew that wouldn't be enough to satisfy his master. "And the rebels are inconsequential in light of recent events."

" _They remain a potential threat if the worst comes to pass. I need you to find and eliminate them. They have been allowed to exist too long already."_

"I am still needed here," Darth Vader said, and was about to continue before the Emperor cut him off.

" _I have already dispatched someone more suited for a prolonged campaign."_ The Emperor laughed a little. _"He will relieve you of duty here, and you will return to the task of eliminating the rebels."_

There was no arguing with his master on this matter, Darth Vader knew that was futile all too well. "As you wish, my Master."

The hologram disappeared and Darth Vader stood up, having his orders and thinking of his own way to fulfill them. He left his personal chamber and headed for the bridge, and by the time he got there he had a plan ready. On the bridge he found the officers there coordinating the repair effort, seeing Captain Zed overseeing yet keeping the micromanaging to a minimum. Darth Vader looked over the bridge officers doing their jobs, and then walked up to the front windows where Captain Zed was standing.

Zed looked at Vader as he approached, and when they stood side by side he went back to looking at the crew. "Yes my Lord. Is there something you require?"

"Yes," Darth Vader answered. He looked out the windows at the planet before them. "It's time we stopped holding back."

* * *

Avatar Aang was running through the streets of Ba Sing Se as fast as he could.

He had tried to fly across the city with his glider, thinking that just a small target wouldn't be seen, and had been promptly shot at by all the stormtroopers marching through the streets. A couple of blaster bolts had made glancing blows to his arms and legs, just barely deep enough to burn and hurt but not deep enough to cripple a limb. His glider on the other hand, had been punctured several times and was no longer fit for flight. Aang could still use it as a staff, but if he wanted to get somewhere he would have to do it on the ground.

Along the way Aang came across battle lines drawn between the invading stormtroopers and the citizens of Ba Sing Se. Earthbenders had raised stone walls to protect themselves from blaster fire, though sustained firing would break down those walls in under a minute. In the time they had the earthbenders would hurl stone blocks over their walls, impacting stormtroopers with enough force to break bones beneath their armor. Here it was clear that the earthbenders had the advantage, thanks to having their element present all around them.

With the wind literally at his back Aang blew through the battles, often throwing up gales in his wake that startled stormtroopers and made openings for earthbenders to attack. Aang was in and out of harm's way before he could get shot, and was making record time running through the city, though this was not the time to be keeping track of that. Despite having the speed of the wind it still took forever to get anywhere in Ba Sing Se, or at least it felt that way by the time Aang reached the middle ring and passed through that part of the city.

"Uh-Oh…" Aang muttered, coming to a stop just short of the cleared part of the ring, staring at something new out there. "That's not good."

Here Aang could see for miles ahead of him, and much of that land was being taken by the invaders. In the distance were machines best described as walking tanks, easily over twenty-five feet tall with a head slightly larger than a Fire Nation tank. Dozens of them were being deployed from larger landing crafts near the sinkhole that spanned the middle and lower rings, and these walking tanks moved through the ruins with the grace of giant turkey-chickens. Attached to the underside of their heads was a pair of blasters, much larger than the handheld variety and promising far more destruction.

"That's definitely not good," Aang muttered. He could see the walking tanks heading out from the clearing, bringing their larger mounted blasters to bear. "This is going to suck."

The walking tanks hadn't even reached the clearing's edge when they opened fire. Larger red blaster bolts shot through the air down middle rind streets, the first volley hitting their targets before anyone could react. Buildings were punctured, earthen barriers were demolished, people were obliterated, all in just a few shots from stronger weapons of war. By the time the walking tanks reached urban landscape, there was no resistance left for them to walk over there, and they kept on walking to target the next battle they could find.

Aang had retreated from the cleared area to the closest group of earthbenders, or rather the closest group not being shot at by the walking tanks. "We need to take those things out!"

A few blocks away blaster bolts exploded and killed half a dozen men, prompting an earthbender in front of Aang to shake his head. "We aren't getting anywhere near that kind of firepower."

Dying screams reached the group, and another earthbender shook his head. "We'll be dead long before we get close enough to do anything."

"Up here we will," Aang said. He punched towards the ground and part of it sank far below them. "But they can't hit us if they don't see us."

This small group of earthbenders followed Aang underground, working together to create a tunnel and lengthen it as they went along. Immediately they encountered the expected problem of not having any light underground, which significantly slowed their progress underneath the battlefield. Fortunately Aang had learned enough of Toph's vibration sight to do it himself, though nowhere near as well as she could and having little grasp of the finer details. With Aang's help the earthbenders got into position, and struck at the walking tanks from below.

The roof of their tunnel was collapsed on purpose, with none of the earthbenders in that part, and the left leg of a walking tank plunged into the tunnel. It also got jammed in the narrow shaft of rock it found itself in, and the other leg struggled to lift the entire machine out of the hole. For good measure the earthbenders made the rock close in around the snared leg, binding it even further and ensuring that it could not get out. And then the earthbenders were back on the move, Aang guiding their tunneling towards the next walking tank.

"I think we've got their weakness figured out," Aang commented.

* * *

"Command, we need ground penetrating radar, stat."

The AT-STs were steadily marching into the urban landscape, laying down heavy blaster fire on the locals from well beyond the range of their telekinetic abilities. But then one AT-ST had stepped on a sinkhole and got its leg trapped in the ground, and it was unable to get itself free from the hole. The timing was too much of a coincidence given the locals' control over rock, implying a role of enemy action at work. It was obvious that the locals had taken the battle underground, where the gunners of the AT-STs couldn't see and shoot them.

The sergeant piloting the lead AT-ST had just called up his command, speaking to a little blue hologram of an officer aboard the _Stalker_. "The enemy is setting traps underground."

" _Acknowledged."_ The officer did something with a terminal on his end. _"Bombers are on route to your position. Please stand by."_

Aboard the _Stalker_ fighter pilots were sent to their ships, specifically the TIE Bombers that supplemented the contingent of TIE Fighters. All twelve of them were launched from the shuttle bay and deployed planet side, diving into the atmosphere toward the continent. Their double-sphere hulls and curved wings were covered in fire on reentry, and when the burning faded they were none the worse for wear while flying toward the walled city. This was the kind of thing they were meant for, laying siege on underground fortifications.

The TIE Bombers flew over the city in a wide formation, turning their targeting sensors on the ground passing below them, searching for targets to bomb into oblivion. The bombers found all sorts of things hidden beneath the surface, though only in broad shapes and no deeper than fifty meters. The first pass over the city was solely for scanning the underground, to find the locals targeting the AT-STs. Over one of the large walls the bombers turned around for another pass, and their sensors found the tunnels and achieved target lock.

" _Starting our run now, brace for shockwaves."_

In preparation for the imminent bombardment the AT-STs halted their advance and planted their feet in the ground, save for the three already snared in the local sinkholes. The TIE Bombers passed overhead and deployed their ordinance, dropping several bombs down on the land around the AT-STs. They exploded on impact and left blast craters behind, some of them too close for comfort for the AT-STs and the imperials inside. Shockwaves from the explosions rattled the AT-STs, deafening some of the pilots and gunners inside them.

The sergeant in particular had a ringing in his ears, bad enough to make it nearly impossible to hear the voice of his superior officer. "Repeat Command, I couldn't hear during the bombing."

Interference from the explosions garbled the transmission, parts of it cutting out while the hologram flickered with static. _"-standing on primary- -had to compensate- -glancing blow on target."_

"Are we clear to resume our advance?" the sergeant asked.

The hologram was already beginning to clear, though the voice still had static in it. _"You are clear to proceed. Follow the path the bombers will lay out ahead of you."_

"Acknowledged," the sergeant said, and at his command the pilot got the AT-ST moving again. He could see the TIE Bombers on another bombing run ahead, clearing some of the urban landscape and discouraging the locals from going underground. "This ought to flush them out."

* * *

Aang literally did not know what hit him.

He had been at the front of the latest stretch of tunnel, just about ready to tell the earthbenders where to make the rock collapse and snare another walking tank in the ground. Then behind him something exploded, Aang was hurled forward into a wall of rock, and the entire tunnel collapsed. Before he knew what was going on Aang was buried in rubble, bruised and bleeding all over. Aang couldn't even hear the drying screams of people crushed in the rubble, not with the intense ringing in his ears that deafened his hearing.

Blind in the dark, deafened by the blast, and buried in the rubble, Aang could only groan while wondering what in the world just happened here. His part of the tunnel had only mostly collapsed, having been near the very end at the time, leaving a small pocket of air at the end and relatively small chunks of rock pinning Aang to the floor. Still he was stuck there and quickly running out of air, the worst possible way to go out for an Air Nomad. As he lay there in the rubble, Aang was all but certain that he would die here.

Fortunately, this was the kind of time the Avatar State was meant for.

Summoned by the instinctive need for self-preservation, a surge of power flowed through the Avatar so that he may be able to protect his own life. Aang's eyes and tattoos glowed bright blue and filled the collapsed tunnel with light, the shadows stirring as the rubble quickly fell off the slowly rising Avatar. More rock collapsed around the Avatar as he stood up, this time falling around him instead of falling on him. Soon the ceiling collapsed around the Avatar, letting in the light of day, and clearing the way for swift retribution.

Wind rushed in through the hole and completely enveloped the Avatar, creating the sphere of wind that usually accompanied the Avatar State. Water surged upward from a buried aquifer, bursting out of the floor and flowing into a ring around the Avatar. Rock quickly followed and formed a ring of boulder sized chunks, but at the Avatar's clenching fists those chunks compacted into smaller and denser pieces. Fire was blown out from the Avatar's mouth, forming the third and final elemental ring that burned alongside the others.

The Avatar rose out of the collapsed tunnel like some figure of legend, enveloped in the elements and ready to unleash them on the world. The walking tanks had moved on from the area so the Avatar was now behind them, and quickly exploited the position to attack. He reached for the closest walking tank with both arms, spread his clenched fists apart, and the ground split in two. A new ravine swallowed that walking tank whole, and as the Avatar brought his fists back together the ground closed in to bind the machine.

The reaction was instantaneous.

All of the walking tanks turned towards the Avatar, their operators wondering what they were looking at but were certain that it was a problem. The big blasters were turned on the Avatar and they opened fire, but the large blaster bolts never reached the target. For the Avatar quickly raised large slabs of rock from the ground, which he positioned between himself and the walking tanks to block all of their shots. Sure each slab was quickly destroyed by blaster fire, but there was plenty more available to weather the counterattack.

Then the Avatar rose up higher, and flew towards the enemy at faster speed. **"Get Off My Planet!"**

The ring of rock came to a halt with one denser stone stopped in front of the Avatar's hand, aimed for one walking tank ahead and below him. The dense stone fragmented into finger size pieces that were propelled faster than the eye could follow, making impact with more than enough kinetic force to puncture metal and pierce the fleshy bits behind it. Numerous high velocity projectiles shredded the walking tank's head, crippling the mechanisms and personnel inside to leave the vehicle a tattered and immobile wreck.

Blaster fire intensified in response to the increasing threat, far beyond the Avatar's ability to block with shields of stone. Instead the Avatar beckoned to the wind and rode on streams of air, blowing back and forth in an erratic pattern difficult to track. He kept ahead of the incoming blaster bolts and out of enemy crosshairs, always making sudden turns when the bolts started to catch up. The Avatar closed in on the enemy formation and descended to head level, and flew in between the middle two, with predictable results.

Firing lines crossed, gunners found each other in their crosshairs, too late to stop shooting. The middle two shot each other, scored direct hits on the wrong target, and blew each other to pieces. Walking tanks further away made the same mistake, though the greater distance between each of them allowed for glancing blows instead of direct hits, sparing each other from complete destruction. The crossfire damaged the sides or legs of nearly every other walking tank, hindering their ability to continue the campaign.

The Avatar ascended high above the battlefield, turning back to see the results and act accordingly. The walking tanks had stopped firing altogether, some of their occupants exiting the vehicles to make emergency field repairs. It would take time for them to get the walking tanks functional again, time that Aang had just bought for Ba Sing Se. In any case the threat from the walking tanks had been negated for the moment, at least until more of them show up. That wouldn't be for a while yet, as there weren't any more walking tanks within the Avatar's sight.

So the Avatar slowly descended back down to earth, the immediate danger to his life over and the need for the Avatar State along with it. The blue glow in his eyes and tattoos faded away and the elemental rings collapsed around him, and all was still when his feet touched the ground. Aang's consciousness returned to full control of his body, a body that immediately collapsed from the exhaustion. Between the injuries sustained in that tunnel and prolonged use of the Avatar State, Aang felt like he could sleep for a month.

But there was still work to be done, despite Aang's weariness. "Have to keep moving…"

* * *

"Excuse me, _what_?"

Captain Zed just heard the latest report aboard the _Stalker_ , one that he was certain to have been greatly embellished. Apparently an entire squad of AT-STs had been crippled or destroyed, and if the report was accurate this had been achieved by a single individual. Given the technological inferiority of the locals, combined with what had been observed regarding their abilities, this feat did not appear to be possible. And yet according to the report, it had happened. Zed was still on the comm with the sergeant down there, the hologram communication on that end not functional at the moment.

" _One person wiped out half the squad and crippled the rest of it."_ The sergeant reporting muttered something to someone on his end. _"Better bring down the AT-ATs soon, they'd fare a lot better than these AT-STs against that elemental pinball."_

An officer that commanded the squad keyed something into his console. "Acknowledged, expect reinforcements soon. _Stalker_ out."

While thinking about this development Captain Zed stroked his chin. "You know, these locals are more formidable than I had expected."

As the tactical officer, Commander Reed made a suggestion for how to proceed. "Do you want the AT-ATs deployed immediately?"

"Negative," Zed ordered, waving a hand dismissively. While he believed escalation was called for, he had a much bigger idea. "Commander, ready the ventral turbolasers. Warm up the forward ion cannons." He waited a moment to see a shocked expression from the commander. "And bring atmospheric thrusters online."

The look on her face alone was worth it, and while shocked Commander Reed still carried out the order. "Understood sir."

Captain Zed walked to the rear end of the bridge, and he put in his codes to make a ship-wide announcement. "Attention all hands, this is the captain. Prepare for atmospheric entry. Lock down all volatile materials immediately. All nonessential personnel are to equip safety gear. This is going to be a rough ride people."

After a few minutes of preparations made to the ship, hastily made by the crew after the order had been given out, the _Stalker_ turned and moved toward the planet. The Star Destroyer descended with its underbelly first, raising shields just before making contact with atmosphere. Thrusters controlled the speed of descent, though it was still fast enough for air to burn around the shields. The flames burning against the shields made the ship look like a comet in the night sky, moving across the sky toward the daylight side.

At the stratosphere the _Stalker_ slowed enough for the flames to cease, and on atmospheric thrusters the Star Destroyer flew across the divide between night and day. The planet's main continent was up ahead, currently in the local midafternoon. The Star Destroyer could be seen from the ground at this relatively low altitude, though only as a dull gray triangle moving across the sky. On most worlds that was enough to make the populace panic, often enough to make them surrender instead of trying to fight such a massive ship.

Captain Zed expected it to be especially effective here, considering the nature of the city his ship would be flying over momentarily. Massive walls were utterly meaningless against a foe in the air, the local's greatest defense negated in an instant. Sure the ship was shaking in the turbulence of atmospheric flight, but the locals couldn't see the strain it put on a Star Destroyer. Down there the _Stalker_ would be a floating fortress far beyond their reach, and it would crush whatever resistance remained simply by being there.

Once the massive walls were in sight the _Stalker_ descended even further, though Captain Zed made a hand gesture for the pilot to ease off a bit. "Keep us above five kilometers. Let them see us before we shoot them."

* * *

"I just can't catch a break."

Aang had finally crossed the middle ring to reach part of it south of the cleared area, where many earthbenders had gathered to fight together. Among their numbers were Dai Li agents, the best earthbenders this city had to offer. A hundred men and women in total were here, and they all saw the spaceship on its way to Ba Sing Se. Soon it would be here to unleash its firepower, in the literal sense of death from above. Yet seeing it here gave Aang an idea, and this gathering of earthbenders was exactly what he needed to do it.

"Alright everyone, listen up," Aang said, facing all the earthbenders. "I'm going to need all of you to take that thing down."

A Dai Li agent looked at Aang, fear written all over his face. "That thing is going to kill us all. How could we possibly stop it?"

"Well its closer," Aang said. He paused to focus and hide his exhaustion a little bit better, and then addressed the group of earthbenders as a whole. "Alright people, this is it. We've only got one chance to get this right. So let's make it count."

Aang quickly told the earthbenders his idea, insane though it may seem at first. Everyone got a part in this endeavor, each doing a small portion of the work, and nodded in confirmation before getting to it. They started by dispersing in every direction, until they were standing in wide circle a hundred feet wide. Each earthbender was several feet away from the next in the circle, and all of them faced the center where Aang was still standing. The spaceship was over the far side of the lower ring now, and the earthbenders began their work.

All of the earthbenders thrust their right fist to the sky, and the ground in front of them rose upward. Their combined efforts had made a large hill rise up beneath Aang's feet, and then the earthbenders repeated the bending move to make the hill rise higher and higher. Again and again the earthbenders made more of the ground rise up, their combined bending reaching the bedrock and raising that too. The ground around the hill moved inward to add to its growing mass, quickly turning the large hill into a small mountain.

Aang soon found himself over a hundred feet higher, and saw the earthbenders spreading out even further. "It's actually working…"

Displacement of so much earth created a valley around the growing mountain, and the valley was growing as well while the earthbenders continued to move more rock. Buildings and streets that had been on the affected land were destroyed, the foundations utterly annihilated in the moving rock. The remains were buried in the rock and added to the mountain's mass, now over four hundred feet high and growing even bigger. Aang stood at the peak of this still growing mountain, the view changing drastically as he rose even higher.

At the five hundred foot mark Aang raised a hand for all to see, then raised his voice so that all could hear him. "Alright, on three. One… Two… Three!"

All of the earthbenders thrust both of their fists into the sky at the same time, focusing all of their earthbending might on one central point deep within the base of the manmade mountain. Alone none of the earthbenders could possibly hope to move so much rock, but together their earthbending amplified one another far beyond the sum of their parts. The combined earthbending power separated the mountain from the Earth, launching the mountain upward like it was fired from the world's largest catapult.

And Aang was launched up with it. "Whoa!"

Repetition of the simultaneous earthbending pushed the mountain again, adding more speed as it hurtled further upward. Aang let himself fall from the peak of the mountain, riding the wind down the slope on the higher side. The peak was starting to tip over, and the mountain would soon follow in an arch leading back down to Earth. The incoming space ship was nearby, but still just too far out of reach without some more speed. That was why Aang rode the moving mountain in the sky, to give it one more big push.

Aang entered the Avatar State, willingly this time, and made that big push. He put all the power of the Avatar State into the most basic of earthbending moves, moving a rock straight up. It just happened to be a really big rock, with a really powerful earthbender moving it. Although in giving the moving mountain one last push up, Aang accidently hurled himself down at the same time. This gave him a good view of the mountain moving away, now heading straight for the spaceship over the city, just as he had envisioned.

Glowing eyes watched the ensuing destruction unfold. **"Take That!"**

* * *

From the _Stalker_ 's bridge an officer saw something alarming through the windows, however unbelievable it was. "Is that a mountain?"

Captain Zed looked out the windows and saw it too, his eyes getting wider by the second. "That's a damn _mountain!_ "

The moving mountain in the sky slammed into the front end of the _Stalker_ , penetrating its shields with sheer kinetic energy. Tons of rock ground against the hull, grinding the stone into dust while peeling away the metal one sheet at a time. The starboard side of the Star Destroyer took the brunt of the impact, and in moments the outer hull there was stripped away by the grinding of rock against metal. The levels within crumpled during impact, compacting a significant portion of the ship and crushing people trapped inside.

Half of the mountain had ground to dust in the impact, while the rest of it lay jammed in the damaged part of the _Stalker_. The extra weight made the starboard side dip down, as well as crush another level of the ship under the weight a Star Destroyer was never meant to bear. Inside everyone was pulled to the right as the apparent gravity shifted around them, the floor they stood on becoming tilted while the ship leaned to one side. It took a moment for the artificial gravity to compensate, but that was the least of the ship's problems.

Extensive damage to the Star Destroyer triggered power surges across the board, affecting every single system on board and inflicting further damage. Electrical conduits exploded in the hallways, consoles ruptured and blew apart, lights blew out and showered people in glass, and fires ignited all over the place. One by one ship systems began shutting down automatically, to protect them from further damage. The last thing to shut down was the engines, meant to let the ship be adrift in space while awaiting repairs.

But the _Stalker_ wasn't in space, and gravity took over with extreme prejudice.

Captain Zed quickly made a ship wide alert. "All hands, prepare for landing."

Without power to the thrusters the ship began to fall out of the sky, right on top of the helpless city below it. Momentum from the _Stalker_ 's arrival kept the ship moving forward, sparing the city center as it went by overhead. But with each passing second the forward motion tipped down, and the _Stalker_ fell while tipped toward its starboard side. The front tip just barely missed the wall between western middle and lower rings, but the following rear bottom struck the wall and demolished the top third of it, further damaging the hull there.

Immediately after clipping the wall the _Stalker_ impacted the lower ring, the front tip plunging into the ground and the bottom hull grinding against rock and dirt. The bottom levels of the ship were stripped away quickly, leaving behind a trail of debris in the long gash left in the ship's wake. The Stalker crossed half of the western lower ring by the time it came to a stop, its front tip buried in the ground at the end of a straight gash in the ground several miles long. Rubble continued to fall as the ship continued to deteriorate, the worst of the damaged parts simply broke off.

When everything finally stopped shaking, Captain Zed let go of the station he had been bracing himself with. And then he punched the console hard enough to hurt his fist. "Damn it all!"

It only got worse for Zed when the bridge doors opened, revealing the presence of Darth Vader. His only sound was the breathing mechanism within, but his meaning tone was all too clear.

Captain Zed faced him anyway. "My lord, I can ex-agh-"

Darth Vader held a hand toward the captain, choking him through the Force. "This failure is inexcusable."

Usually this was over quick, but for the loss of a Star Destroyer Darth Vader stretched it out. It took several minutes for Captain Zed to die, each one in excruciating agony. Everyone on the bridge watched, until the captain was nothing more than a corpse.

Darth Vader then turned toward the tactical officer, the highest ranked officer to survive the crash. "You are in command now, Captain Reed."


	10. Home Soil

Chapter 10: Home Soil

"Holy… that actually worked!"

Just outside the palace Azula had seen the whole thing, the manmade mountain launched with the power of hundreds of earthbenders. She had seen the mountain hit the spaceship descending over Ba Sing Se, and watched it fall somewhere beyond the walls to the west. Although Azula couldn't see the actual crash, her sight blocked by the wall that now had a large chunk of it missing, she felt a tremor in the ground when it happened. It was like a small earthquake had gone off, and everyone noticed it even in the heat of battle.

All around Azula were the bodies of stormtroopers that got in her way, many of whom had been electrocuted by her lightning attacks and/or burned alive by blue fire. It appeared that their armor was especially conductive, allowing lightning to pass from one stormtrooper to another in close groups. This convenience created a rather effective strategy for Azula and her current ally, as Long Feng would raise stone walls to block blaster fire while Azula charged lightning, and then lower the walls when she was ready to fire.

Just behind her Long Feng was standing, though he had been looking out for more stormtroopers at the time and didn't see it. "I missed it. How in the world did I miss it?"

"More of them I assume," Azula said, pointing ahead.

A large group of stormtroopers were climbing up the front steps of the palace, though still near the bottom and pointing their blasters up at the targets they spotted. At the top of the stairs Azula saw the stormtroopers coming, and she had to back away from the edge when blaster bolts started flying by. Long Feng raised a thick wall at the edge of the steps, and he immediately heard blaster fire hitting it. He waited to see how long it took for blaster fire to bring down his wall, and frowned after a couple of seconds.

"That's a lot of firepower," Long Feng noted. He raised another wall, and soon it was demolished too. "So the usual? Or should I handle this one?"

Given where they were standing, Azula opted for the latter choice. "Go right ahead."

Long Feng nodded and took a few steps backward. "You don't want to be standing there right now."

Once Azula had backed up Long Feng got to work, eager to see what he had in mind. Long Feng planted his feet and thrust his fists forward and up, and a large slab of rock broke free from the floor and went past the edge. The slab fell onto the steps and slid all the way down, reaching the stormtroopers and hitting them right in the knees. The impact tripped every single one of them and they hit the steps face first, just in time for a second stone slab sliding down the steps to hit them in the face, with the entirely predictable results.

After seeing the effects of his work, and rather satisfied with it, Long Feng curtsied for Azula. "After you my dear."

"It's time to rally the troops," Azula said, already walking down the steps with Long Feng right behind her. "That ship may be down, but I'm sure we still need to finish the job."

* * *

By all metrics, the _Stalker_ was a dead ship.

Designed for space, built in space, flown through space, Star Destroyers were meant to serve the Empire in space. Although they were certainly capable of flying in atmosphere, this was usually only done as a scare tactic to demoralize a superstitious enemy. Landing a Star Destroyer was absolutely out of the question, the word itself being a thinly veiled way of admitting to crashing one. Doing so was an automatic discharge for the commanding officer responsible, assuming that Darth Vader hadn't dealt with it first.

Captain Zed's body wasn't even cold yet when Darth Vader started giving new orders to the bridge crew. "Damage report."

Aside from the obvious damage on the bridge, various consoles broken and/or on fire, the _Stalker_ 's condition only got worse by the second. The ventral hull was completely gone, along with the five lowest decks, and the decks above those were heavily damaged. The starboard side was compacted throughout the top half of the ship, and many sections beneath it were cut off by collapsed corridors. Power systems were fried across the board, and in many part of the ship only the emergency lighting was still active.

Really the only part still relatively intact part of the ship was the command tower, albeit with fried circuitry running the height all the way to the bridge. The windows on the bridge had a good view of more damage, as one could see the front end of the ship buried in the ground. It would take years to dig it all out, just for the sake of salvaging the materials. At best this ship would be dismantled and its parts recycled, at worst it would simply be left here to rust. One thing was certain though, the _Stalker_ would never fly again.

After major points Darth Vader stopped listening to the report, as the minor details seemed inconsequential. "Are the hangar doors still functional?"

"Yes, my lord," the newly promoted Captain Reed reported.

"Open them," Darth Vader ordered. "I want everything we have in the air now. Get the first squad of bombers to work around the crash site. Destroy everything within five kilometers and secure that perimeter."

"Right away sir," Reed said, already getting to work on that.

"Get the AT-ATs running," Darth Vader opened.

"They are trapped in the port cargo hold," Reed reported. "It could take weeks to cut open the hull and let them out."

"We don't have weeks," Darth Vader said. "Blast it open if you have to. We need the heavy machinery out there now. The enemy is surely about to take advantage of this situation as we speak."

* * *

The people of Ba Sing Se were emboldened by their sudden change in fortune, whereas the stormtroopers they fought were demoralized by the crashed Star Destroyer. Earthbenders fought more ferociously than before, now truly believing that they could actually win this fight. Stormtroopers stopped their advance and retreated toward the crash site, seeking to fortify that position until they got new orders. All across the city the tide of battle turned, with the earthbenders taking back their home block by block.

As Long Feng passed through the city every group of earthbenders followed him, rallying behind the leader of the Dai Li to take back Ba Sing Se from the space invaders. Azula walked right beside him all the way, feeling more confident with each earthbender that joined their growing army. By the time they reached the lower ring they had several hundred to their number, with all the earthbending might to move mountains. Long Feng was eager to put that might to work finishing off the invaders, leading them straight to the crash site.

"There it is," Azula said, pointing to a spot across the lower ring.

The crash site was impossible to miss in the lower ring, what with the crashed ship now dominating the landscape. Everyone could see the ship's rear tower sticking up in the air from miles around, as well the long gash in the ground leading to the wreck. From here everyone could see the ship's engines pointed up at a shallow angle, tons of heat billowing out of them and making the air shimmer around them. Even from miles away the crashed ship looked huge, and on the ground it was almost like some giant fortress.

"Must have taken them forever to build that," Long Feng noted. "It's huge."

Azula nodded, but wasn't dissuaded from the task at hand. "So it will take some time to tear apart. I think we can handle it."

"But can we handle those?" Long Feng wondered, pointing up at something in the sky. "They might be a problem."

Flying over the crashed ship were the bombers that were the bane of tunneling earthbenders, circling it like a flock of vulture-wasps ready to feast on a carcass. They started dropping bombs all around the crash site in a wide circle, destroying everything below and leveling the terrain for miles around. Soon the crashed ship had a clear line of sight in every direction, and it would be impossible to approach without being seen and subsequently shot and/or bombed into oblivion. Even the underground would not provide safe passage, for the bombers continued their patrol.

Meanwhile the ship's hangar opened and hundreds of fighter craft flew out, their upright octagonal wings ill-suited for flying in atmosphere. The fighter crafts spread out in wide formations and joined the bombers in circling the crashed ship, darkening wide swaths of the sky with their numbers. Yet they weren't doing anything up there besides circling around, scaring the living daylights out of many people that saw them up there. Yet for all their numbers and aerial superiority, the expected attack did not come.

"What are they doing?" Azula wondered, staring at the circling fighter craft while the earthbenders behind her were trembling in fear. "Why aren't they attacking?"

Long Feng's eyes narrowed as he studied the fighter crafts' behavior. "It almost looks like they're just staying out of the way."

"Out of what-" an explosion cut Azula off, and she could only stare at it. "Did they just bomb themselves?"

* * *

The TIE Bombers got to work opening the port side of the _Stalker_ in the most expedient way possible, however self-inflicting it may be, by blasting apart the hull to get at the cargo holds inside. Now that the compliment of TIE fighters was airborne and the port sections fully evacuated, the TIE Bombers could blast open the ship without inflicting further casualties on the crewmen inside. It took several bombing runs to fully expose the cargo hold to open air, and then unleash the weapons of war that had been trapped inside.

Ten AT-AT walkers were stored in this Star Destroyer's cargo hold, each resembling a massive four-legged beast, and were designed for siege warfare in situations when orbital bombardment was an unacceptable or impractical tactic. Now that the cargo hold was open the AT-ATs were activated and mobilized, slowly walking out through the hole and out of the Star Destroyer. Wreckage from the bombing was crushed underfoot as the AT-ATs exited, making for a relatively steep incline as they walked to reach the ground.

One by one the AT-ATs walked down the slope of wreckage to set foot on the ground, and then they turned to face the inner side of the city that lay before them. The first one stopped at the inner side of the land cleared by the bombers, waiting for the rest of the AT-ATs to join formation side by side before the attack. Once all ten AT-ATs were standing in a row they marched forward together, slowly approaching the other side of the bombed land, bringing their massive blasters to bear and acquiring target lock.

The order soon came over the radio. _"Fire when ready."_

They were ready now. The AT-ATs opened fire across the battlefield, their massive blaster bolts crossing in fractions of a second. Entire groups of people were vaporized on impact, before they could even react to enemy fire. Nearly fifty had died before everyone else could try to defend, and stone walls rose up before the second volley. Those walls were demolished under sustained blaster fire, and the people behind those walls perished with them. Local losses were extreme, and the AT-ATs had only just started.

It didn't take long for the enemy to scatter in every direction, if only to reduce the casualties inflicted by each attack. So the AT-ATs accelerated their advance across the battlefield, steadily getting closer and acquiring better targeting to blast more foes into oblivion. After several minutes of sustained fire they obliterated every target within visual range, and with no more targets to shoot the AT-ATs stopped firing. But that didn't mean the enemy was complete gone, not when they were known to go underground.

The locals had done exactly that before the TIE Bombers got to work, scanning the underground for tunneling locals and then dropping bombs on them. The first bombing run made several craters, which were littered with the scattered remains of dead locals. They hadn't even made it half a kilometer before getting bombed, nowhere near close enough to attack the AT-ATs from below. Between the AT-ATs attacking the surface and the TIE Bombers attacking the underground, the enemy could not get through the line of fire.

But then new orders came in. _"Hold position. Shoot anything that comes within range. Defend the_ Stalker _at all costs."_

* * *

Five minutes ago Long Feng and Azula had an army.

Now they had nothing.

Those massive metal monsters had nearly annihilated the earthbenders, leaving only small handfuls of survivors that were now scattering to the winds. Craters dotted the landscape where the attack had struck, littered with the bloody pieces of people blasted apart. Even the earthbenders that defended with walls of stone were slain, killed by the massive blasters that tore through stone and flesh alike. Only the underground offered protection from the blasters, but those flying machines knew exactly where to drop their bombs.

Long Feng found shelter somewhere in between, having made his own crater and stood at the bottom of it. All the blaster bolts went flying over him, and the bombers weren't dropping bombs here. But although he was still alive, he couldn't fight back from the bottom of his crater. Azula stood beside Long Feng in that crater, hearing the dying screams from the annihilated army all around them. Although both of them had seen the horrors of war before, this was on a scale unlike anything they had ever witnessed.

Still, Azula had one last trick up her sleeve. She knew it wouldn't win the fight, but it was better than standing around here waiting to die. "On my mark, raise me out of this hole."

"What?" Long Feng blurted out. "You can't be serious."

"Just do it!" Azula yelled.

Azula cupped her hands at her side, focusing the power of her firebending into the space between her palms. A ball of blue fire formed and grew brighter, becoming hotter by the second as she put more of her power into it. The intensity of the flame grew until the blue fire ascended to the fourth state of matter, with electricity crackling around the superheated ball of blue plasma. Azula kept on funneling her firebending into an attack she had reserved for her own use, an attack fashioned after the alien that ruined her life.

"Now!"

Long Feng exactly did as Azula asked, even if he expected her to die from this insane plan. Long Feng raised the ground beneath Azula, bringing her out of the crater on a pillar of rock high enough to see the enemy. Azula immediately unleashed her attack, thrusting her hands forward with her palms open. There had been a phrase to go along with the attack, used by the alien she copied the attack from, but Azula had long since abandoned it. She put all her focus into the attack, and from her palms a thick beam of blue plasma erupted.

The bright blue beam of plasma shot across the battlefield, faster than any other firebending attack known to man. Azula's aim was true and her attack found its target, hitting one of the metal monsters directly in the face. The blue beam covered the entire head and part of the torso behind it, quickly melting the metal and heating up everything inside. The massive blasters were superheated until they ruptured, which created an explosion that completely blew off the head, followed by the rest of it collapsing in a smoldering wreck.

Yet destroying the metal monster's head and killing the rest of it was only a small victory, for when Azula finished firing her attack she collapsed and fell off the pillar. No matter how much she had tried to improve it over the last year, using that attack always drained Azula of everything she had. This time Azula was out cold by the time Long Feng caught her, and he gently set her down next to the pillar. It had been a valiant effort on Azula's part, Long Feng recognized, if only to achieve that small victory against an overwhelming foe.

But it had also attracted the attention of every stormtrooper in the area, and soon Long Feng saw dozens of them surrounding the crater. "You did what you had to, now I have to do the same."

All those stormtroopers aimed their blasters into the crater.

Long Feng raised his hands above his head. "I surrender."

* * *

Although the _Stalker_ was far beyond salvageable as a starship, repair work was underway regardless of that reality, though only because of the current predicament. For better or worse the crashed ship was the only available base of operations, and so it had to be fortified as a defensive position. That required repairs to get the ship's systems operational again, at least the ones that would be helpful on the ground. So far they had the comms and life support working, but most of the automated defense systems were still offline.

Darth Vader was currently walking through the ship's halls, getting rather annoyed with the tilted angle everything leaned toward while the artificial gravity was offline. He walked past the crew making repairs just about everywhere, yet they were still immensely shorthanded for the task. Between the vast amount of work and a reduced crew, everyone would be doing triple shifts for a while. Darth Vader ignored the crew while collecting every stormtrooper he came across, leading them through the ship toward the largest passage in or out of this crashed ship.

That spot was the cargo hold that had been deliberately bombed open, now resembling a large wound left to fester and rot like some dead tauntaun. Darth Vader had a few hundred stormtroopers with him when he got there, stepping into the hold where the natural light could shine in on everything inside. Here Darth Vader could see outside and found the deployed AT-ATs, one of which was now missing its head and wrecked. Whatever caused that hadn't happened again, but the fact that it happened demanded answers.

Fortunately there was a squad of stormtroopers returning to the ship at this very moment, and Darth Vader recognized one of the prisoners they were bringing back. "Well this should be illuminating."

Darth Vader remembered Long Feng from his first trip down to this planet, back when there had been a need for plausible deniability. That was no longer the case, and there was no need to accommodate the poor fool any longer. The stormtroopers forced Long Feng onto his knees before Darth Vader, who stood without speaking while looking down on the now-deposed ruler. Darth Vader let this moment sink in for a bit, so that Long Feng could realize just how hopeless his predicament was, and that there was no point in resisting him now.

"Now then," Darth Vader said. "You are going to tell me everything about the attacks you used today. Start with the moving mountain, and finish with the long range plasma beam."

Long Feng said nothing.

That was the expected response, so Darth Vader waved a hand and called on the Force. "You will tell me everything."

Long Feng shuddered and felt a strange need to comply, but resisted and turned his head away, still refusing the command. "No."

Darth Vader waved his hand again, used more of his power this time, and repeated his command. "You _will_ tell me everything."

Again Long Feng shuddered, violently so and with a small cry of agony. "I. Will. Not."

Resistance to Force Persuasion was not unheard of, though it was rare outside of the few species that naturally carried the trait. In this case Darth Vader figured it would take more effort than he cared to exert, so he switched to a more reliable method of obtaining compliance, one that was far more enjoyable anyway. Darth Vader held his hand out as if to grab something, and Long Feng felt the invisible grip of the Force choking him. A moment later Darth Vader let go, and Long Feng immediately gasped for air.

Once again, Darth Vader made his command. "You will tell me everything."

Now on his hands and knees, Long Feng nodded. "Please… no more…"

Darth Vader crossed his arms. "The suffering will end when you comply."

Quickly Long Feng recovered his breath, nodded again, and promptly lied through his teeth. "It was Aang. All of it was Avatar Aang."

* * *

Avatar Aang was currently resting in the upper ring, the only part of the city that appeared to be safe again. At least for the moment anyway, when the situation could very easily change for the worse. At this point Aang barely had the strength left to even stand, so he was lying down on the first building he had come across. Between the injuries from his fights, the exhaustion from using the Avatar State during those fights, and just plain fighting in general, Aang felt like he could sleep for another hundred years.

He wasn't that fortunate, being stuck in the nightmare that was this invasion. Aang knew that this wasn't going to stop, no matter how hard he tried to change that. Knocking down that space ship had only bought him some time to breathe, and if those smaller ships flying overhead were any indication, Aang's time was quickly running out. Ba Sing Se was going to fall once again, and there was no stopping that outcome now. Only one practical option remained for him to use, one that he suspected was becoming a habit of his.

Aang groaned and forced himself onto his feet. "Fight another day, right?"

One more time Aang called upon the Avatar State, uncertain if he could sustain it, and only long enough for one more move. With that power Aang jumped into the air on a column of wind, racing toward the heavens where the smaller ships flew overhead. Once he was up there Aang timed things just right, and he intercepted one of the ships with the flat octagonal wings. The wind cushioned the impact with the left wing, allowing him to remain in one piece, yet when Aang grabbed on it still felt like his arms would be ripped off.

The little ship didn't seem to notice him there, though it did drift lazily to the left. Aang held onto the wing for as long as he could, losing the feeling in his fingers in the process, until the little ship turned around to head back toward the crash site. It flew past the crashed ship on the southern side, apparently patrolling the airspace in a large circle. At the right moment Aang used the Avatar State again and pushed off, propelling himself with the wind and the momentum from ridding on the little ship.

The combined forces propelled Aang even faster than before, soaring far beyond the lower ring and across the Agrarian Zone. Aang saw the great trench of the western side pass by below him, and he cleared the outer wall and fell outside Ba Sing Se. When he started to fall Aang used the wind to slow down, really the only thing he could do in this situation, but it still hurt everything when he hit the ground. Aang tumbled for quite a ways after the crash, and when he finally stopped moving he was certain something in him broke.

"Ugh," Aang groaned, on his back and looking at the sky. "I'm never doing that again."

Outside Ba Sing Se it seemed rather peaceful, with only the sounds of the wind and wildlife to keep him company. From here the outer wall blocked all signs of the invasion, making it seem like just another day in the Earth Kingdom. At best the sound of battle was like very distant thunder, so quiet that one could wonder if it was even there at all. It seemed like as good a place as any to get some rest, since Aang didn't have the energy left to move anyway. He simply lay there as still as could possibly be, barely able to even keep his eyes open.

But then Aang spotted something new in the sky, an itty bitty triangle just barely large enough to see. "Oh you've got to be kidding me."

* * *

The space around Earth was empty once again, save for the usual space debris caught in the planet's gravity. That changed when a Star Destroyer emerged from hyperspace near the planet' moon, drifting forward with its engines on a low burn. This Star Destroyer was the _Avenger_ , a fitting name considering the fate of the _Stalker_ , even though it was not aware of the latter ship's fate. The _Avenger_ set a course for the planet immediately after exiting hyperspace, on orders to rendezvous with a ship that was no longer in orbit.

Behind the _Avenger_ another Star Destroyer emerged from hyperspace, then another one, and then a third Star Destroyer followed. These three ships were the _Conquest_ , the _Tyrant_ , and the _Devastator_ , and all three were on the same mission as the _Avenger_. Together they would finish the _Stalker_ 's work and then begin reinforcing the planet, to pave the way for an invasion of the space beyond the border. And for good measure one more ship emerged from hyperspace, one that dwarfed even the mighty Star Destroyers.

Nineteen kilometers long, and a third of that wide, this massive warship was like a Star Destroyer but built on a much larger scale. With over two hundred thousand military personnel aboard, this massive ship could wage a campaign singlehanded. Armed to the teeth with the best weapons in the Empire, this Super Star Destroyer was that flagship that instilled fear in the enemy on sight. This massive ship was the _Executor_ , and together with the Star Destroyers it completed the infamous Death Squadron fleet.

While Death Squadron was on a direct course for Earth, the planet was in full view of each ship's bridge. Aboard the _Executor_ 's bridge there was a flurry of activity, from coordinating fleet movements to searching for the apparently absent _Stalker_. Admiral Kendal Ozzel commanded the _Executor_ whenever Darth Vader was absent, a position he enjoyed during the last three years. But he suspected more of his blonde hair would turn grey by the end of this mission, considering the latest change to the command structure.

"Pretty little marble out there," Admiral Ozzel noted. He turned to look at the person sitting in his chair. "Wouldn't you agree, Grand Admiral?"

The white uniform of a newly appointed rank did little to conceal this officer's blue skin, being one of the few aliens in the chain of command and the only alien to achieve this prestigious rank. His dark blue hair was trimmed in the usual naval style, and in this moment his face was nearly unreadable. Few men would try to read his face anyway, as his red eyes were discomforting to those that didn't know the grand admiral personally. Right now those red eyes were looking at the planet, sitting in a unique spot on the galactic map.

Grand Admiral Thrawn nodded. "It is a rare gem this far out from the Core."

Soon Death Squadron reached the planet and entered orbit around it, spread out over the large continent currently on the daylight side. This close the Executor was large enough to be seen from the planet's surface, and would certainly be noticed by the populace below, if it hadn't been already. It would either instill fear in those aware of the Empire, or create mass confusion among those that were not. Either way it would serve the fleet's goals, and subjugate the people of this planet all the more quickly.

When the bridge officers reached consensus, one reported it. "Sir, there's no sign of the _Stalker_."

"What has Zed gotten into this time?" Ozzel wondered. "Scan the planet for it, just in case he landed."

A scan of the planet's surface got results immediately. "Found it."

"Let's see it," Ozzel ordered. A blue hologram showing a topographical view of the area filled the bridge, and Ozzel whistled while examining it. "When Zed screws up, he really screws up."

The hologram showed a Star Destroyer plowed into the ground, with a big gash in one side as if someone had thrown a mountain into it. The other side was blasted open seemingly for a convenient way out of the ship, and since the ship was scrap anyway they might as well take it apart. The hologram also showed several AT-ATs guarding a perimeter, occasionally shooting at something out of the hologram's frame. It would certainly be an experience to hear just what the hell happened, either at Zed's court martial or his funeral.

"Keep the fleet in high orbit," Thrawn ordered. "No one goes down there until we know what happened. I want contact established as quickly as possible."


	11. Under New Management

Chapter 11: Under New Management

Darth Vader had just about finished his interrogation when the good news reached him. Death Squadron had finally arrived in this system, and would certainly put a swift end this world's resistance. The locals had gotten lucky to bring down one Star Destroyer, but they would not succeed at that again. Four more Star Destroyers, and the Super Star Destroyer _Executo_ r, would not be taken by surprise so easily. At best Death Squadron would need a few days, at worst a full week to establish order on this planet.

As quickly as possible Darth Vader had gone to the hangar and boarded a shuttle, which took off immediately and set a course for the _Executor_. As the shuttle ascended Darth Vader got a firsthand view of the crashed _Stalker_ , and it looked even worse from the air than it did from the ground. Soon the shuttle was leaving atmosphere for space, and the view was quickly filled by the massive Super Star Destroyer in high orbit. It was certainly a welcome sight for Darth Vader, returning to a vessel that might as well be his own personal space fortress.

The shuttle flew into a much larger hangar than the one it had just left, this one holding enough TIE Fighters and Bombers to lay waste to an entire planet. Once the shuttle landed Darth Vader exited it, and he was greeted by a legion of stormtroopers standing at attention. Darth Vader walked between the ranks of the 501st legion, his handpicked soldiers that served as the best the Empire had to offer. After crossing the hangar Darth Vader went straight to the bridge, to have a word with the commanding officer.

When he got there Darth Vader saw the Grand Admiral, and he knew this was the alien that the Emperor sent to take over here. "Thrawn…"

"Vader." Thrawn was still sitting in Admiral Ozzel's chair, though turned around to see Darth Vader's entrance. "A pleasure, as always."

"I should have known the Emperor would send you," Vader said.

"Well his usual agent is busy at this time," Thrawn said.

"She usually is," Darth Vader said. He walked over to the side of the chair, and Thrawn turned it around to face the hologram Darth Vader now looked at. "Now then, let's get to the matter at hand."

"Yes," Thrawn said, eyeing the hologram of a crashed Star Destroyer. "What went wrong?"

"Overconfidence," Darth Vader answered. "We were certain that this world would be an easy conquest, so the former captain was reckless with his ship. The locals took advantage of that and struck with more power than we anticipated, and that is the result."

"I trust you relieved the captain of command," Thrawn said. "In your usual style, I presume?"

"He will not make his mistake again," Darth Vader assured him.

"I see," Thrawn said. He stood up and properly faced Darth Vader, looking him in the eye. "I will take over this operation now."

"Then I will take my leave," Darth Vader said, and he turned to leave the bridge.

Once Darth Vader had left, Thrawn turned toward Admiral Ozzel. "The survivors are to be debriefed immediately. All data collected is to be uploaded to the _Executor_ and analyzed. And all current operations on the ground are to be put on hold until further notice."

Admiral Ozzel nodded. "Understood."

Thrawn walked over to where Ozzel stood, held his hands behind his back while looking out at the planet. "We will not charge into this blindly like Vader did."

* * *

If someone said lightning does not strike twice, that someone never met Fire Lord Ozai.

The battle in the Fire Nation capital may have been lost on the surface, but it continued in the tunnels that lay underneath the city. Fire Lord Ozai had made the enemy pay dearly for each foot they pushed him and his firebenders back, the bodies of electrified stormtroopers littering the path to the first emergency bunker beneath the palace. The doors to the bunker had been closed behind them, but the enemy had used powerful explosives to blast the bunker open. Even here the Fire Lord's rule was challenged, and he fought back with everything he had.

Ozai was shooting lightning through the hole in the bunker doors every few seconds, hitting and electrocuting several stormtroopers at a time with each lightning bolt. Firebenders beside him were throwing endless flames through the hole, burning the stormtroopers that Ozai missed. Meanwhile stormtroopers were shooting back into the hole, firing blindly into the flames and lightning hoping for a lucky shot. Occasionally a firebender would be hit by a blaster bolt, and the defense as a whole suffered as a result.

Even Ozai was beginning to tire, and the firebenders were growing more exhausted by the minute. Nonbender troops and palace servants collected on the way here were helping to mitigate fatigue, providing food and water to replenish the firebenders' strength. Still they could not hold out forever, not without reinforcements to relieve the exhausted firebenders. And the enemy just kept on coming with little regard for their own safety, throwing away a dozen lives just to take down one firebender or a chance to take down Ozai.

After drinking a whole pitcher of water, Ozai charged and fired yet another lightning bolt. "We will not let this end here."

Meanwhile, at the opposite end of the tunnel outside the bunker, stormtroopers were setting up a bunker buster missile launcher. They were almost ready to demolish the entire bunker when the ground shook, and they dismissed the rumbling because they were inside a volcano, where such things were expected all the time. But then the tunnel wall behind them exploded, large chunks of rock crushing a few stormtroopers. All the others turned toward the new hole, and the young girl and boy charging out of it.

"Oh Yeah!" Toph yelled, leaping out of the hole she just made.

Toph immediately punched the ground, making a small earthquake that split the floor and shook stormtroopers off their feet. Burning hot steam erupted through the cracks, venting some hidden lava chamber while also scalding stormtroopers through their armor. Toph then yanked down with her other first, pulling rock down from the ceiling to crush anyone underneath them. She then faced the entrance to the tunnel and did the same thing with both fists, collapsing the ceiling there and blocking the tunnel entrance.

During the earthbending madness Sokka cut down some stormtroopers with his space sword, and then spotted the missile launcher that now stood unattended. "Well that looks dangerous."

Sokka ran over to the weapon and raised his sword, bringing it down with enough force to cleave it in two. There was no explosive destruction from that, a slight disappointment for Sokka. But then he had to raise his space shield to block some blaster bolts, though not for long until Toph threw some boulders at them. Sokka then charged at the few stormtroopers still trying to get into the bunker, and he cut them down with his sword one by one. Pretty soon those were all gone too, and the fighting in this tunnel came to an end.

"Okay…" Sokka called out. "People are dead."

Fire and lightning stopped coming out of the bunker, and Sokka could see what was inside. The Fire Lord was breathing heavily and sweating like a turkey-pig, and the firebenders beside him were just about ready to collapse. Sokka walked down the scorched tunnel and entered the bunker, seeing several people hurrying with food and drink, among them Toph's old man Lao coordinating the effort. Yet something felt wrong about this, even when Sokka told himself it was just a holdover feeling from the war.

"Can't believe we saved the Fire Lord," Sokka muttered, sheathing his space sword. "Year ago me would call now me crazy."

Toph sealed the collapsed entrance with more rock, and then hurried over to the bunker. "I don't know how long that's going to hold. There's a lot more of those guys on the other side."

"Right," Sokka said. He then turned back to Ozai and the firebenders, seeing the poor shape they were in. "How are you holding up?"

Ozai had walked back to the small throne he kept down here and sat down in it, taking the chance to rest while he still could. "I'll live."

Toph walked up to her dad, felt his relief through the vibrations when he saw her, and the two hugged. "I wasn't sure you made it dad."

"I wasn't," Lao said, being content to hold his daughter for as long as he could. "You're tougher than I ever imagined."

Meanwhile Sokka kept his attention on the Fire Lord. "So… Are we going to fall back to one of your other bunkers, stay right here until we're crushed by numbers, or try to rush back out there and take as many of them out with us?"

"The city has already fallen," Ozai said, as much as it pained him to admit it.

"Hey guys," Toph said. She pointed to the sealed tunnel behind her. "They haven't tried to break through that yet. I think they're up to something."

"Probably," Sokka said. "I say we get moving before they do whatever it is they're doing."

Ozai nodded. "We'll take ten minutes of rest, then head up there for our final stand."

Those ten minutes passed by far too quickly, and far too soon they were on the move. Sokka and Toph led the way out of the bunker and down the tunnel, and Toph opened a passage into a different tunnel. In the side tunnel they went around the one taken by the enemy, and they found a route that led up toward the surface. At first it seemed fortunate that this tunnel was empty, until they reached an intersection that had to be occupied. Yet that was empty too, and that was only the start of new worries.

"Where are they?" Sokka wondered, space sword at the ready. "Toph, what do your feet say?"

Toph stopped and put a hand on the floor. "What the… they're heading up."

"You are certain?" Ozai asked.

"Yeah," Toph said. "Something is definitely wrong about this."

Despite their suspicions about the whole affair, they still continued on their way up toward the surface. They were moving slowly when they reached the palace basement, expecting ambushes around every corner and certain that finding a trap was inevitable. Even Toph was starting to suspect that they'd figured out how to fool her feet, even if there was no possible way for the enemy to know that's how she saw the world. But the ambushes were never sprung, and even in the palace's ground floor the place was completely empty.

"Where did they all go?" Sokka wondered, scratching his head in confusion.

Ozai walked over to the palace entrance, looking through the open doors and into the city beyond. "They're leaving. Why are they leaving?"

Throughout the city the stormtroopers were marching back to their landing crafts, recovering the weapons of the fallen but leaving the bodies behind. Their numbers had been thinned greatly since their arrival, and some of the landing crafts ended up with few passengers. Then one by one the landing crafts lifted off the ground, flying up into the sky and away from the capital. Soon the capital city was empty of invaders, even though no one could fathom why they left. When Sokka saw this development, he could not believe his eyes.

"This is either really good," Sokka said. "Or it is really, _really_ bad."

* * *

Thrawn had left the _Executor_ 's bridge for his personal quarters, and he studied the data retrieved from the _Stalker_ there. Of particular interest was the supernatural abilities some of the populace possessed, the obvious means by which they had amazingly managed to bring down a Star Destroyer. The potential uses for that made this world worthwhile, assuming the locals could be brought into the fold. He also reviewed Darth Vader's plans for this sector of space, and while the idea itself was sound the execution clearly needed a far different approach.

He also took the time to review reports from stormtroopers on the ground, many of which were not happy about the order to withdraw. It was rather unusual for an invasion to be halted, and many of the stormtroopers wanted to continue the battle. A simple reminder of the unusually high casualty count was enough to convince most of them otherwise, and that throwing more men at the problem wasn't going to solve it. Besides, those men down there needed to be debriefed on what they found down there, and they deserved a rest after a long day of fighting.

After a few hours there was a ring at Thrawn's door. "Enter."

The door opened and Admiral Ozzel walked in. "You sent for me."

"I did," Thrawn said. He tapped a button on his computer console, and a full color hologram appeared. "Tell me, what do you make of this?"

"It's a painting?" Ozzel answered. "I'm not really into that kind of thing."

The painting was one of many found in the palace under siege, copied on holofilm and transmitted to the _Executor_ with the rest of the data. It depicted a ruler from a bygone era, one that had laid waste to all that stood before him, and held with reverence from his subjects. Above the ruler's raised fist was a ball of fire with a long fiery tail, seemingly scorching the heavens themselves, a common depiction of a comet in primitive arts. A label named this ruler as Fire Lord Sozin, and a caption listed this event as taking place just over a century ago.

"This would have been seen by every person walking into that palace down there," Thrawn said. "Imagine for a moment, you're entering a place of political power, welcomed by the sight of supernatural power. You're reminded of what your ruler did long ago, and that the heavens themselves had given him the divine right to do it."

Admiral Ozzel gave him a puzzled look. "I don't follow."

"Context, my dear admiral," Thrawn said. "It is clear that they perceive comets as celestial omens. This ruler used it to add legitimacy to his reign. And he was most likely feared by the rest of this world because of it. This is a society that still fears the supernatural."

"How does that help us?" Ozzel asked.

Thrawn leaned back in his chair and put his fingertips together. "The key to truly defeating one's enemies is to understand them. Once you do that, you can manipulate them into defeating themselves. In this case, I suspect that understanding their culture will be essential."

"We could just lay waste to the entire planet from orbit," Ozzel suggested. "Wipe them all out and be done with it."

"And waste a valuable resource, I think not," Thrawn said. "Vader had the right idea with these 'benders' as they call themselves. We just need to make them realize they would be better off under the Empire's rule. Then they would work with us rather than fight and die against us."

"That may take some time," Ozzel pointed out.

"We have it," Thrawn said. "The bigger prize is beyond the border, and it will take some time before it is ready for a full invasion."

* * *

"Hello… what do we have here?"

The Fire Nation capital lay in ruin, and after all the work spent rebuilding it too, seeming like such a waste. After all the lives taken by the stormtroopers, and after they all left, the city was just about empty of people. Only small groups of holdouts remained alive, no larger than half a dozen each. None of them dared venture out from their shelter, not while they suspected the enemy would return. They left the city deserted while the Fire Lord's group emerged from the palace, seeing what little was left of the once proud capital.

Although the loss of life here was tragic, it was not completely one sided. Throughout the city lay the bodies of fallen stormtroopers, their armor up for grabs by anyone that wanted to claim it for themselves. So many of them had fallen that one of their landing crafts had lost its entire contingent, and in the haste to withdraw from the city that landing craft had been left unattended. Sokka had been the first to spot it a few blocks away from the palace courtyard, and the ideas were already going through his mind.

Toph could certainly imagine what he was thinking right now. "Don't you remember what happened last time?"

Not far behind her Ozai wondered what she meant by that. "Last time?"

Sokka turned around, his face a little red. "Okay, so I made a ship fly out of control and crash. Now I know what _not_ to do."

Ozai then noticed the mangled wrecks of a landing craft and a shuttle nearby. "That's hardly reassuring."

"I'll figure it out eventually," Sokka said. He resumed his walk toward the landing craft, eager to get inside. "Practice makes perfect, right?"

"You can't even get practice in," Toph said. She followed Sokka to the landing craft, and noticed something right before he was about to go in it. "Hey Sokka, wait a minute."

Sokka had just stuck his head in through the open door, and had to yank his head back out immediately. But instead of a blaster bolt being fired, it was an energy blast that just barely missed his face. "Whoa!"

"Tried to warn you," Toph said, walking up to Sokka. She banged her fist against the side of the landing craft a few times. "Suki, it's us, so please don't shoot."

A moment later Suki stuck her head out, and was clearly surprised to see friendly faces. "Sokka? Toph? I thought you guys were in space?"

"We came back," Sokka said. "Tell you later. Right now I want to know how you got in this thing."

"Not much to tell," Suki said. She gestured to some stormtrooper bodies nearby, with rather distinctive holes in them. "This was the last thing about to leave, we attacked, and we killed everyone but the pilot."

Sokka peeked inside the landing craft, seeing two Kyoshi Warriors interrogating a prisoner. "Huh?"

"Well that'll help," Toph said. "We need a guy that can actually fly this thing."

"Are you planning what I think you're planning?" Suki asked.

"That depends," Sokka said. "Are you thinking I'm planning on going back up there in this thing?"

"I was not thinking that," Suki admitted.

"Oh," Sokka said. "Well that's what I want to do. Do you think you can get this pilot to do it for us?"

Suki shrugged. "I'm not sure. But we can find out."

The pilot was a rather scrawny man, and he wore a simple black uniform that was now torn in places. He appeared to have been beaten somewhat, though not excessively so at the Kyoshi Warriors' hands. Those warriors were a little frustrated with their captive, who apparently hadn't given up any useful information. Granted, they had only been interrogating him for about five minutes, so it was to be expected that the pilot wouldn't be complying with them just yet. They likely would have moved on to more extreme methods, if they hadn't been interrupted.

"Alright, listen up," Sokka said as he approached the pilot. "We're going to be taking this thing for a little joyride. You can either show us how to do it, or be strapped in while I make this thing crash somewhere."

"You're not making any sense," the pilot said. "If you can't fly it, how can you crash it?"

Sokka grabbed the pilot, lifted him up, and brought him over to a nearby window. "Do you see that out there?"

The pilot saw lots of things out there. "You're going to have to be more specific."

"The wreckage," Sokka clarified, pointing to the smoldering wrecks of a landing craft and a shuttle. "That was me, and I can make that happen again, but with you in it."

"You're bluffing," the pilot said.

"Care to call me out on it?" Sokka said. He brought the pilot back to the cockpit, shoved him into the copilot's seat, and then sat down in the pilot's seat. "Let's see, if I remember right…"

The pilot watched Sokka start fiddling with the controls, and he panicked when Sokka almost pushed a certain switch forward. "Stop!"

Sokka complied, made a mental note about that switch, and looked at the pilot. "I take it you don't want to die in this flying deathtrap?"

"I can take you up to the Star Destroyer," the pilot offered. "That's the only place you can take this ship and not get destroyed when you reach orbit."

"Okay," Sokka said. He quickly got out of the chair, and gestured for the pilot to take it. "That's all I wanted."

Suki saw Sokka come out of the cockpit, and she glanced inside to look at the pilot. "Are you sure you want that guy at the controls to this thing?"

"Not really," Sokka whispered. "Still, it's really the only idea I have other than wait for the invaders to come back and finish us off."

"Point," Suki conceded. "So what's next?"

Sokka walked back outside and faced the others standing out there. "Alright, who wants to go to space? Toph?"

"No!" Toph yelled. "I remember what happened last time I went up there. No way am I flying in one of those contraptions ever again!"

"What happened last time?" Suki asked.

"No earthbending up there," Sokka answered. His gaze settled on Ozai, and he found it hard to believe what he was about to ask. "Fire Lord, space, do you want to go up there?"

"And leave myself at the mercy of this machine?" Ozai questioned. "No."

"Figures," Sokka admitted. He looked around, only seeing more shaking heads. "Anyone else?"

"I'll go up with you," Suki offered.

Tempting though that may be, Sokka shook his head. "We need you down here. If we do get shot down and die, we'd lose one of the only advantages we have."

"You need someone to watch your back," Suki insisted.

"I know that," Sokka said. He then looked at the rest one more time. "Anyone else?"

Various ways of saying no answered him.

"Fine then," Sokka muttered, going back inside the landing craft and heading for the cockpit. "Guess it's just me going up there."

* * *

The collective hangars of Death Squadron were getting a little cramped, despite the vast amount of space they contained across five ships. The problem was accommodating all the various smaller ships the _Stalker_ had carried, and Star Destroyers weren't meant to hold an extra twenty percent of their rated carrying capacity. The _Executor_ took on the bulk of the extra landing crafts and shuttles, but even then some of the arriving ships had to orbit the fleet while waiting for their turn to come aboard, much to the frustration of the officers trying to find space to put them all.

The delays were affecting outbound ships as well as inbound ships, something that Darth Vader found when he was ready to leave the _Executor_. But his presence was more than enough to speed up the process of clearing a shuttle for departure, and it would then open up a spot in the hangar for another ship to land. Given the nature of Darth Vader's departure he wanted to pilot the shuttle himself, as this was a trip he wanted to take alone and with little fanfare, where he could let the Force guide him and meditate on his thoughts and actions.

Soon enough Darth Vader was in the shuttle and flying it out of the hangar, and in relative silence he was left with only his thoughts for company. Although he was no longer in charge of the operation, he found comfort in that the campaign was still going forward. Sure he didn't like the guy the Emperor put in charge, but Thrawn was a capable commander in his own right, something that he could respect. Between that tactical mind and the might of Death Squadron, there really was no way that Thrawn could fail.

Once the shuttle was in open space Darth Vader took one last look at the planet, thinking about all the trouble it had surprised him with over the last few days. He then turned the shuttle away from the planet and toward friendly space, content with the notion that it wasn't his problem anymore. Darth Vader then fired up the shuttle's hyperdrive, the stars turned to streaks, and the blue void welcomed him on his journey back into the Empire. The autopilot took over from here, and Darth Vader could turn his attention inward.

Darth Vader had one final thought as he left. "Good Riddance."

* * *

"That… was not there before."

Sokka was looking through the windshield of the landing craft, sitting in the copilot's seat with a good view. The pilot had just brought the craft into space, which was a lot more crowded than it was the last time Sokka was up here. Instead of one large ship there were four like it, along with one much bigger than the others and far more terrifying. Apparently the invaders were taking the situation seriously enough to bring in reinforcements, and Sokka could only guess at how much firepower he was staring at.

"This just keeps getting worse and worse," Sokka grumbled.

The pilot, on the other hand, was feeling rather satisfied with the reaction of the passenger, indulging in a small laugh. "You're in for it now. That's Death Squadron. It has more than enough power to raze an entire planet from orbit."

" _Transport one-one-three-eight, please wait for permission to board. There is a long queue and not enough space in the hangars at this time."_

"Acknowledged," the pilot said, though tempted to inform that officer of his situation. The black sword at his neck convinced him otherwise. "Transport out."

Sokka put away his space sword, and started looking at the controls again. After watching the pilot for a little while longer, Sokka had a better idea of what the various parts did. "So… does this thing have any weapons?"

"Seriously?" the pilot asked, staring at Sokka. "This is a troop transport. It's not supposed to be doing any fighting."

"Oh," Sokka grumbled. He then jabbed his elbow into the pilots face hard enough to knock him out. "Boring conversation anyway."

Not wanting the pilot to sound the alarm, Sokka had made sure that couldn't happen. He then pulled the unconscious pilot out of the chair and gently put him down on the floor, and took his place in the pilot's seat. Figuring that he had seen enough to fly this thing, at least as far enough to crash it into the biggest ship and take out the invaders' leadership. Given the very low odds of survival now, Sokka figured that he could make his own demise mean something. But at the last moment he hesitated, his resolve wavering while truly thinking about what he was about to do.

A glance at a specific switch reminded Sokka of something, remembering that the pilot didn't want him touching it. "Oh why not, let's see what it does."

Sokka pushed the switch forward, and the entire view changed. The stars turned into streaks, which then became a strange blue void. And Sokka screamed, a lot.

* * *

"Did that transport just jump to hyperspace?"

Thrawn had gone back to the bridge to check up on things there, and he had been glancing out the window when a transport just disappeared. For a second there he thought he might have imagined it, until he heard officers making the exact same comment. It was to be expected that transport pilots would be getting impatient by now, but not enough to disobey orders and head back to the Empire on their own, or to risk getting completely lost. Something weird had just happened, and it merited investigation.

"Which transport was that?" Thrawn asked.

"One-One-Three-Eight," an officer reported. "It was the last one to report in."

"When did it report?" Thrawn asked.

"Only a minute ago," that officer answered. "It was the only report the transport made since the order to withdraw."

Finding this suspicious, Thrawn went through the likely scenarios in his mind. One in particular stood out as plausible. "There are stowaways on that transport. Hone in on that transport's tracking beacon. I want it found the moment it emerges from hyperspace."

"Yes sir," the officer said.

In the meantime Thrawn turned back to looking out the window, thinking about this latest development. He made a mental note to have a word with whomever it was that thought putting hyperdrives on troop transports was a good idea, even if they were the most basic models and only meant to be used in emergencies. It wouldn't get very far before the hyperdrive overheated and automatically shut down, and would be a simple matter to track its signal, wherever its bare bones navigation computer took it.

Assuming no one else found it first.

* * *

In a remote sector of space a small squad of X-Wing fighter crafts was scouting a solar system, flying past each of its planets and collecting data about them. Supposedly this system had a barren planet that could conceal a military base, and this squad was checking to see if that was true. However, when they got to the second innermost planet they found it barren, but with an atmosphere of methane and carbon dioxide. No good for a base that would be exposed to the environment, making this trip a waste of time.

The squad leader didn't like that, as this was yet another alternative that turned up bad. He heard some beeping from the droid hooked up to his X-Wing, and he agreed with the little guy. "I know R2, at this rate we'll have no choice but to build on Hoth."

Another pilot sent a message over the radio. _"Skywalker, we're just about done here. I think it's time we moved on to the next system."_

"Agreed," Skywalker said. He angled his X-Wing to fly around the barren planet to turn back toward friendly territory. "Make the jump as soon as we're past the- Whoa!"

A ship suddenly dropped out of hyperspace ahead of the squad, so close to the planet that it was in danger of falling into planet's gravity well. On a closer look that ship appeared to be an imperial troop transport, one that had clearly gotten lost somehow in order to end up here. The transport was on a vector that would skim the planet's atmosphere, getting a slingshot boost in speed from going around the planet. Yet somehow that didn't seem to be an intentional maneuver, if the feeling in Skywalker's gut was any indication.

" _Did you see that?!"_

"Of course I saw it," Skywalker answered. He kept his eyes open for more imperial ships, yet they didn't seem to be coming. "R2, can you figure out what that ship is doing out here?"

More beeps came from the droid, until it patched into an imperial comm frequency.

" _You hit the switch, didn't you?"_

" _I wouldn't have if you mentioned what it did."_

" _Yes you would have."_

" _Maybe, maybe not."_

Skywalker figured now was good time to interrupt. "Excuse me, whoever you are, I can't help but notice that you're lost."

There were some surprised yelps, a loud thud of someone hitting someone else, and then a young male voice took over. _"Yes, yes I am lost. And quite frankly, I have no idea what I'm doing, again."_

Either it was the legit honesty in the voice, or a gut feeling, that had Skywalker inclined to believe it. "Don't worry. You're going to be alright. Just follow my instructions and we'll get you somewhere safe."

 _A/N: This chapter originally had Suki going to space with Sokka. That was causing problems further down the line, so I tried to edit Suki out of the scene she was originally in. I failed in that regard at first, hopefully I haven't missed anything else._


	12. The Ultimatum

Chapter 12: The Ultimatum

Everything hurt when Zuko woke up.

The last thing he remembered was being flung face first into a wall, which explained the pain in his face and chest. Blood stained that wall in several places, matching the smears on his arms and legs and other assorted places. He didn't remember getting tossed around the room, but it would explain the painful bruises he felt everywhere. As he lay there in pain Zuko noticed the blood from his face flowing in one direction, telling him that the floor was tilted considerably. At first he just wanted to lie there, but the pain wasn't going away.

"What happened?" Zuko muttered. It hurt to turn his head even a little, but the cell door he saw reminded him. "Oh yeah…"

After the failed attempt to destroy the Star Destroyer from within, the few survivors had been thrown into the brig, presumably to be punished at some later date. It was just Qin and Sangok in this cell with Zuko, neither of them were in any good condition. But at least Sangok was able to get on his hands and knees and move around, slowly getting closer to Zuko inch by inch. Zuko didn't have a clue as to why the floor was tilted, figuring that had something to do with the part he missed. He tried to think of a reason why, but that only seemed to make the pain worse.

Sangok got in front of Zuko, alarmed at the sight of a gash in the forehead bleeding into Zuko's scar. "Oh man, that's got to hurt. If only I had some water. Ugh… got to make do without."

Even though his hands were bone dry, Sangok pressed them against the bleeding gash. His hands were soon covered in blood, doing little to stop the bleeding. Still Sangok focused every bit of his waterbending into his hands, calling on the inherent waterbending ability of healing. It seemed that the blood on his hands had enough water in it for the task, glowing a dim blue while flesh began to mend. Sangok looked just about ready to pass out when he finished, and the gash was reduced to red and swollen skin.

Feeling better, but still with a throbbing headache, Zuko nodded. "Thanks."

Suddenly the cell door opened, and half a dozen stormtroopers came inside, blasters pointed at Zuko and Sangok. "On your feet."

Zuko tried, but his legs gave out from under him. "Yeah… that's not happening."

One stormtrooper made a hand signal, and the others moved in on them. "Get them cleaned up and ready for transport. And get a medical droid to examine them. We can't have them dying before interrogation."

* * *

Grand Admiral Thrawn stood in the center of the _Executor_ 's bridge, and he nodded toward a particular bridge officer. "Begin."

On that command the _Executor_ began launching probe droids, deploying its entire one thousand compliment of the multi-limbed black machines. The rest of Death Squadron launched their probe droids as well, one hundred from each Star Destroyer. The probe droids flew down toward the planet, and then scattered across the face of this globe. It took some time for the probe droids to reach their destinations, every single population center on the planet, from the largest cities to the smallest villages and everything in between.

The larger cities got dozens of probe droids in their skies, while even the smallest of villages got at least one. The probe droids hovered above the populace, beyond the reach of their supernatural abilities, and spread out in the most efficient manner to draw as much attention as possible. They certainly achieved that goal, getting fearful scorns in the capitals and confused looks just about everywhere else. The probe droids remained in place for a short time, letting crowds gather beneath them for maximum effect.

Each probe droid was equipped with a holographic emitter, and all of them were activated simultaneously. They projected an image of Grand Admiral Thrawn beneath the probe droids, his every motion captured and relayed from the _Executor_ 's bridge. Each hologram made Thrawn appear to be fifty feet tall, standing above the locals and looking down on them, as lifelike as if he was actually there. The probe droids kept track of the number of locals looking at the holograms, the total climbing with each passing second.

When a sufficient number of locals were watching, Thrawn began. _"Attention, citizens of this world."_

Across the Fire Nation, people watched and listened to this alien introducing himself to the world. _"I am Thrawn, Grand Admiral of the Galactic Empire, commanding officer of Death Squadron fleet. I have enough firepower at my disposal to raze this entire planet. I need only to give the order."_

Across the Earth Kingdom, people watched in fear of newfound war. _"But I have chosen not to. There is a place for you in this Empire, if you choose to become a part of it. Your capitals have proven that, in part from the remarkable resistance they had demonstrated."_

In the Fire Nation capital, the Fire Lord and the Blind Bandit listened with suspicion and disbelief. _"Make no mistake, if you continue to fight you will die. Comply, and you will live. Lay down your weapons, and we will welcome you into the Empire. Not only will you survive, you will thrive."_

In Ba Sing Se, the survivors were sorely tempted by what they were hearing. _"Once the fighting it over, I will ensure that your world is rebuilt. The ruins from your last war will be swept away, and you will know prosperity unlike any this world has seen before."_

In this moment, it seemed like Thrawn looked at everyone in the eyes. _"The choice is yours."_

* * *

When the message ended, Fire Lord Ozai reacted immediately. "Send the word out. Anyone that surrenders to this alien is to be executed on sight."

"WHAT?!" Toph yelled, turning towards Ozai and throwing her arms wide apart. "That's a little extreme, don't you think?!"

The message from space had arrived during the search for survivors, and the few that remained were coming out of hiding holes scattered across the Fire Nation capitol. The search had come to a halt during the message, all eyes on the alien's image during its speech. At the end of the speech the image disappeared, and the machines that projected it went back to wherever they came from. The message certainly had an effect on the people around Ozai, already seeing treasonous thoughts behind the eyes of many.

"We need as many people as we can," Suki said, now wishing that Sokka hadn't left without her.

"We can't afford any deserters," Ozai argued. "Everyone must fight if we want any chance of survival."

"We don't have any chance at all!" Toph yelled.

That struck a chord with the people around them, all of whom had lost someone today. One battle with the invaders had nearly cost them everything, and they only survived because those invaders left of their own accord. Only a few hours ago they had been willing to lay down their lives in defense of the Fire Lord, and had been certain they would all die doing so. They also knew that when the invaders returned, they could only stall until the inevitable defeat. Yet now there was a chance to survive, and their Fire Lord ordered them to throw it away.

One rather scrawny person looked away, then turned away, and then walked away. Another person followed suit, followed by another and another. One by one people turned and walked away, turning their backs on the Fire Lord that would lead them to their deaths. The Fire Lord watched his subjects quietly abandon him, even the imperial firebenders that had stood by his side. Soon it was just Ozai standing alone, even though Toph and Suki were still there facing him, all but daring him to strike at the people abandoning him.

"You're all fools," Ozai said, watching the mass desertion. "They're just going to kill everyone that surrenders. You know that."

"Maybe," Toph admitted. "But staying with you will kill everyone too."

Suki sighed, realizing that it was already over. "I can't believe this."

Then Toph turned and walked away, followed by Suki, and leaving Ozai all alone in his empty capital.

* * *

During his third trip into space, Zuko found himself in his second prison cell. On the way up he had gotten a glimpse at the fleet in orbit, proof that even if his insurrection had succeeded it still wouldn't have made a difference. Now Zuko was alone in this cell and left in his misery, waiting for whatever end the invaders had planned for him. Sure they had bandaged his wounds and applied advanced medical treatment that relieved the pain, but those was small concerns compared to the inevitable tortures Zuko expected.

Then the cell door was opened, and Zuko was surprised by who the stormtroopers threw in. "Azula?"

The princess was in pretty bad shape, and she did not respond to Zuko at first. Her space armor had been taken away from her, and the stormtroopers had put basic black clothes on her for modesty's sake. Azula wasn't conscious and appeared to be dehydrated, but she was still breathing as she lay there on the floor. When the cell door was closed Zuko got over to his sister, wondering how they had managed to capture her alive. Zuko crouched and podded Azula's shoulder, which got her groaning and opening her eyes.

"Wha…" Azula muttered. She looked around and saw her brother, and was somewhat confused by his presence. "Zuko…? What happened…?"

"I failed," Zuko answered. "That's it for me. What about you?"

"Same," Azula said, slowly getting up to a sitting position. "Threw everything I had at these guys, and it just wasn't enough."

"I know that feeling," Zuko admitted, he sat down next to Azula. "How bad is it out there? I've been out of the loop for a while."

"Let me put it this way," Azula said. She laid her head back against a wall, barely looking her brother in the eye. "It took the Fire Nation one hundred years to reach and conquer Ba Sing Se. These invaders did it in one day."

That had Zuko speechless.

For a while Azula brought Zuko up to speed on what she had gone through, and Zuko in turn told Azula of his experience in space. Although their efforts had been ultimately fruitless against overwhelming adversaries, they had both learned something from their failures. While these invaders were certainly powerful forces to be reckoned with, they were far from invincible. They could be hurt, they could be slowed, and given the odds against them those small feats were a consolation victory in and of themselves, if only in a minor sort.

"So what do we do now?" Zuko wondered.

"Not much we can do in here," Azula said, she glanced at the cell door. "I guess we wait until an opportunity arrives."

"And go out in a blaze of glory exploiting it," Zuko said. "You go first."

"And leave father's throne to you?" Azula questioned. "I don't think so."

"Kind of a moot point," Zuko argued. "First, pretty sure you couldn't have gotten the news yet, but I fought father again and earned back my place in the royal line. Second, what with this invasion going on, I'm pretty sure father's been killed by now. And third, there probably won't be a throne for either of us to take by the time this whole thing is over."

"Well at least you'll die along with me," Azula grumbled.

Zuko would have said something, but the cell door was opened and some stormtroopers entered. "What do you want?

"Come with us," one stormtrooper ordered.

There was little point in refusing, given the obvious consequences, and so Zuko got up and walked with the stormtroopers out of the cell. They left the brig and walked to the nearest turbolift, taking it through the massive ship to some other section somewhere else. Despite the swift speed that the turbolift moved, it still took a while to pass through this enormous ship. Zuko wasn't sure where he was when the turbolift stopped, having been unable to keep track of how far he had gone during the long trip.

From there it was a short walk through a corridor, accompanied by more stormtroopers of course. They led him to a large and long room, which had a view of space along the left side. There was a spectacular view of Earth as well, but Zuko was in no position to enjoy it this time. A long table spanned the middle of the room, and at the far end someone unfamiliar was sitting there. Zuko didn't know the blue skinned alien in the white uniform, but the armed guards behind him told Zuko this guy was now in charge.

Zuko stopped and stood at the opposite end of the table. "Why am I here?"

Thrawn gestured for Zuko to sit down, but didn't react when Zuko refused. "I have an offer for you."

"I've heard that one before," Zuko said.

"Yes, from Darth Vader," Thrawn said. He picked up a small cup and swirled the drink a bit before taking a sip. "He has a habit of doing that and altering the deal as he sees fit. While it does get results at the time, it makes people less likely to make such deals in the future."

"Your point?" Zuko asked.

"I am not Vader," Thrawn said. He stood up and walked over to the window, taking a look at the planet out there. "When I make a deal, I hold up my end."

"Still not seeing a reason to believe you," Zuko said.

"Of course, not without any proof," Thrawn conceded. He walked over to the side of the table and pressed a button, activating a series of holographic images. "Perhaps this will help."

The hologram started with an image of stormtroopers standing in front of a shuttle, though Zuko couldn't tell where it had landed. The view then shifted away to a crowd of Fire Nation villagers, cautiously approaching the stormtroopers near their home. The stormtroopers waited around their shuttle, remaining patient while the villagers approached. The two sides met, the respective leaders talked, and not a shot was fired. There was certainly animosity between them, something Zuko could see in the faces, but no violence whatsoever.

The same thing could be seen when the hologram changed, showing a different group of people reacting in the same way to the stormtroopers they met. This appeared to an Earth Kingdom town, not quite welcoming but still not openly hostile. The hologram changed again to show Water Tribe citizens doing the same, letting the stormtroopers enter without resistance. And in return the stormtroopers were not attacking anyone, but were instead bringing food and medicine to the populace complying with their presence.

Thrawn let the hologram cycle through more images depicting this behavior. "Earlier today I extended an offer to the people of this planet. If they surrendered, they would not be harmed. These people did so, and my men have not attacked. I kept my word to them, and I will keep my word to you."

Zuko watched the hologram a little while longer, seeing stormtroopers start to unload supplies and hand them out to the populace. "Alright, let's say I believe you. What's your offer?"

"It's much like the one I made to your people," Thrawn said. "Comply, and be rewarded. In your case, I require a middle man. Someone to bridge the gap between your people and the Empire, someone that your people will respect but someone I can rely on. It will help ease the transition of bringing your world and its people into the Empire."

"Why me?" Zuko asked.

"You've proven capable of making the hard decisions," Thrawn answered. He pressed a few more buttons, and the hologram changed to selected scenes recorded from the _Stalker_ 's security cameras. "That insurrection you attempted is proof enough of that."

"It failed," Zuko pointed out.

"Irrelevant," Thawn said. "The point is you're a suitable candidate for the position. Your people would have one of their own as a leader, but still serve the Empire's interests."

"And if I say no?" Zuko asked.

"We'll find someone else for the role," Thrawn said. "And that person will have an example of what saying no will get them."

Zuko could definitely imagine what Thrawn meant by that. "It seems like I don't have a choice."

"Oh there is a choice," Thrawn said, crossing his arms. "It's just that you really don't want to choose poorly."

"I get it," Zuko said. He sighed, shook his head, and walked up to the table. "So is there something I have to sign…?"

* * *

In hindsight, Toph figured that she shouldn't have been surprised.

When everyone left in the capital city had abandoned the Fire Lord, Toph and Suki had gone with them and left the caldera. They had gone down the volcano slope and headed straight for the harbor, itself a small city in its own right given its role on this island. All trade going to and from the capital had to pass through this harbor, and the tariffs placed on shipping brought wealth to the people that lived and worked here. It was really the only place on the island to go, as going any further required passing through here.

And here the situation was very different from the capital. The invaders from space were here in force, but they were not attacking any of the populace. The people here had not witnessed the battle in the capital, and had only the alien message and their own judgement to go on. So when the invaders landed here the people had accepted the offer, letting the invaders stay in exchange for protection. And the invaders were keeping their end of the bargain, much to the surprise of those that survived in the capital.

If there were any lingering doubts about abandoning the Fire Lord, they disappeared here.

Toph walked up to one of the stormtroopers, holding a blaster but keeping it pointed at the ground. "Excuse me, when did you guys get here?"

The stormtrooper seemed a little puzzled by that, since he thought it was obvious. "We landed half an hour ago. Where've you been, under a rock?"

"You could say that," Toph admitted.

"We just got here," Suki said. "We wanted to know what's going on."

"Nothing yet, and if no one screws up it ought to stay that way," the stormtrooper answered. "Orders are to not fire unless fired upon, and keep the peace so long as your people want it."

"Ah," Toph muttered. She turned and started walking away. "In that case I won't bother you."

Right behind her, Suki was close enough to whisper. "Was he lying?"

"No," Toph answered. Assuming these invaders had the same tells for deception, her vibration sight reported none of them. "I think he actually was telling the truth."

Suki looked around, seeing the stormtroopers handing out food and supplies. There was still plenty of fear and suspicion here, but less than there had been in the capital. "Do you think this will last?"

"No idea," Toph said. "I think we should get out of here before they change their minds."

"Yeah," Suki said. She looked up the volcano, seeing several landing crafts descend into the caldera. "I wouldn't want to be up there right now."

* * *

Fire Lord Ozai stood alone.

He had returned to the throne room that he ruled from, only now there were no subjects left for him to rule over. Everyone was either dead or deserted, leaving the capital a hollow shell of its former self. Ozai sat in the new throne of this still incomplete palace, a place that surely would never be completed. There he waited for the end to come, when the enemy would return to finish the job, and he would face it like a true Fire Lord. He was through with retreating deeper into the volcano, and would make his final stand here.

The invaders returned at sundown, and came in far greater force than before. Ozai heard their ships landing just outside, and soon heard the rushed footsteps of hundreds in the palace halls. Stormtroopers came pouring through the throne room entrance, lining up in rows and pointing their blasters at Ozai. Yet the stormtroopers stopped there, none of them pulling the triggers on their blasters. He was a little surprised that they weren't shooting on sight, so he stayed his hand long enough to find out why.

One stormtrooper placed a small disk on the floor and slid it halfway to Ozai, and the disk projected a life size hologram of Thrawn. _"Fire Lord Ozai, I presume."_

"Just get it over with," Ozai insisted.

" _Eager to throw your life away,"_ Thrawn commented. _"You really should consider the alternative."_

"What alternative is there?" Ozai asked. "You invade my world, slaughter my men, steal my subjects, and have finally come for me."

" _Nothing personal,"_ Thrawn said. _"This world belongs to the Empire now, and you are standing in the way. You can step aside willingly and help your people adjust, or you'll become a lab experiment to see if your talents can be reverse engineered. It's your choice."_

"No choice at all," Ozai said.

" _So be it,"_ Thrawn said. He turned toward the stormtroopers. _"Commander, stun setting."_

Ozai charged and fired a bolt of lightning straight at Thrawn, but the lightning passed right through the hologram and struck a stormtrooper behind it, killing him instantly. All the other stormtroopers fired their blasters simultaneously, the stun setting shooting blue rings a meter wide, rather than the red bolts of the kill setting. Dozens of the blue rings converged on Ozai, their combined effects overwhelming him in an instant. Ozai collapsed and fell to the floor, out cold and unable to resist any longer.

After a momentary disruption from the lightning, Thrawn's hologram resumed its normal function. _"Bring him aboard, and use every security precaution. Keep him sedated until a lab is ready for experiments."_

* * *

In the middle of the night, Aang slipped away.

Aang had slept for ten hours straight since escaping Ba Sing Se, long enough for night to fall there and the full moon to rise. In the darkness of the night the light of descending spaceships was plain as day, and there were so many of them heading for the city that Aang knew fighting for Ba Sing Se was a lost cause. So he walked the other way, keeping the massive wall to his back, and traveling by moonlight to find his way. Aang didn't really have any specific destination in mind, just that he had to be anywhere but here.

After passing through a flattened forest, Aang found a lake with an unnaturally circular shore. This unnatural terrain brought back memories, but he didn't take the time to dwell on them. Aang stood at the shore and stared at his reflection in the moonlight, seeing all kinds of cuts and bruises he'd all but forgotten about. Aang took a moment to wash off the grime and dried blood as best he could, mentally kicking himself for never bothering to learn the healing part of waterbending. He felt better physically, but mentally was another matter.

At this point in his life, Aang had lost track of how many times he'd failed as the Avatar. This one just happened to be bigger than the others, having lost to an outside force far beyond his understanding. It was tempting to just give up and surrender, thus taking the easy way out of this mess. But the easy way out had always caused more problems in the past, the Hundred Year War being the biggest example, and Aang saw no reason for that to change in the future. Aang resolved to fight on, no matter how hopeless it may appear.

Aang reached into his pocket for a bison whistle, one that Sokka had bought for him nearly a year ago, and blew into it. He couldn't hear the high pitched sound the whistle made, but he was hoping that the sound could carry all the way to Ba Sing Se. Aang had to wait a while, blow the whistle a few more times, before he spotted a shadow cast in the moonlight. Sure enough it was his ever faithful sky bison, hearing the sound of the bison whistle, and coming to Aang's call as quickly as the big furry beast could fly.

When Appa landed Aang hopped on his head. "Come on buddy, let's get out of here."

And so the Avatar left, vowing to fight again another day.

* * *

Thrawn had to admit, judging by the latest reports, things were proceeding rather well.

Imperial forces were landing at every substantial settlement on the planet, and very few cases of violence were being reported. Most of the planet had been uncontacted before his message was sent out, and the inhabitants leery of outsiders promising something good. Keeping to the promise of nonviolence towards those that didn't fight, the stormtroopers deployed convinced most of the locals that the message was sincere. Delivering food and supplies won over many of the suspicious populace, holding up the imperial side of Thrawn's promise.

Sure there were some places where the locals were hostile, and they were promptly exterminated by the stormtroopers without hesitation. Some of them were left alive to send a message to nearby settlements, just to reiterate the point about violence being met with violence. In comparison to the calculated estimates, the casualty rate was closer to the minimum this time. Very different from the bloodbath Vader caused, that difference in results being something that Thrawn could take a little bit of pride in.

Thrawn was looking at the reports in his quarters, and he pressed a button to call the bridge. "Could someone please send the admiral up here?"

Soon enough Admiral Ozzel arrived and entered. "You wanted to see me?"

"I did," Thrawn said, swiveling his chair away from the computer to face Ozzel. "I want your honest opinion of the situation planet-side."

"Well it's better than it was before we got here," Ozzel answered. "Stable too, for now at least."

"You think that could change," Thrawn noted.

"Easily," Ozzel answered. "One misunderstanding and a fight will start. If that is handled badly it could spread across the planet. We would lose a lot of soldiers before we get it contained."

"How would you handle it from here?" Thrawn asked.

"I would pick an ideal location for our needs, carpet bomb it from orbit, and set up shop before the locals know what we're doing." Ozzel expected a reaction, but did not get it. "We don't need to keep them alive in order to use this planet."

"I'd rather avoid genocide if I can," Thrawn said. "In general it is far too wasteful, both in lives and in spent ammunition. In this particular case however, the locals and their abilities are a unique resource. I won't throw it away because it would be more convenient."

Ozzel knew better than to question his superior on this. "What orders would you have me carry out?"

"Begin with reconstruction where it is needed most," Thrawn ordered. "Once that is done, and goodwill established with the locals, begin building headquarters and garrisons across the planet. We will need them to house the first wave of troops ahead of crossing the border."

"And what if the locals resist?" Ozzel asked.

"Make an example of them," Thrawn answered. "Be merciful once in a while, it will improve relations."

"Understood," Ozzel said, and he turned to leave.

"One last thing," Thrawn said. "If the locals present an opportunity we haven't anticipated, don't hesitate to act on it. I wouldn't want it wasted just because you don't have the proper orders."

"Yes sir," Ozzel said, and he finally left the room.

Once the door was closed Thrawn turned back to his computer, looking over the reports again for anything he might have missed before. He checked the current inventory of locals under his sway, noting that the entire Fire Nation leadership was accounted for. Fire Lord Ozai had been captured alive, Prince Zuko had agreed to be a figurehead, and Princess Azula was still in custody. If anyone else were to attempt to take power in the Fire Nation, it would be far too late to do anything about the Empire's presence.

Similarly, the Earth Kingdom was mostly under control. The apparent leader Long Feng was in custody, while no other leader seemed to be taking his place. Avatar Aang was unaccounted for though, and the power he wielded could be a real problem for Imperial forces trying to maintain order. So Thrawn ordered a search to begin immediately, for the potential nuisance could not have gotten far in such a small amount of time. He also made sure that the stormtroopers understood the need to bring him in alive, so that his power could be studied and repurposed to serve the Empire.

Thrawn leaned back in his chair, folding his hands while deep in thought. "It's been a good day."


	13. Alliance of Convenience

Chapter 13: Alliance of Convenience

Katara felt really sick.

It had happened the moment the stars turned into bright streaks, and were then replaced by a strange blue void. Han Solo had called it 'making the jump to hyperspace' at the time, and then he had to catch her before she could fall to the floor. For Katara it was like having something deep inside her being torn out, something as vital to her very being as her heart or soul. Han put her in the copilot's seat and strapped her in, not that she could tell after passing out. When Katara awoke she found that the blue void was still here, as well as the void within herself.

"What the…?" Katara muttered. She looked around the cockpit, seeing Han leaning back in the pilot's seat. "Right… I'm stuck here."

Han heard her and he looked at Katara, but kept his arms behind his head. "Are you feeling any better?"

"No," Katara answered. She unbuckled the chair's safety harness and got up, feeling a little dizzy doing it. She put her hands on the console in front of her and looked out the cockpit windows. "What is this place? It looks really freaky."

"Hyperspace," Han answered. "They say if you stare at it long enough, you'll go insane,"

"Really?" Katara questioned, looking at Han.

"Probably not," Han admitted. "Still, not worth testing to find out."

"Suppose not," Katara said. She groaned and put a hand on her stomach. "Does everyone feel this terrible in hyperspace? Or is it just me?"

"It's you," Han said. He got up and pointed toward the rest of the _Falcon_. "It's going to be a while before we come out of it. There's plenty of time for you to get some sleep. It'll do you good."

Katara nodded and stood up. "So is there a bed in this thing or what?"

Han gestured for Katara to follow. "It's right down this way."

* * *

Luke Skywalker had to admit, that little R2 unit was worth all the credits in the galaxy.

Not only did it manage to hack the troop transport's navigation computer over a wireless channel, R2-D2 managed to coordinate a synchronized hyperspace jump with the transport and the X-wing Luke was flying. The jump brought them to the next solar system over, one with a habitable planet for them to use. That planet happened to be a known smugglers den, so they could only stay for a brief time. R2-D2 guided the transport to a landing zone, and Luke landed the X-Wing next to it. There Luke got out of his ship and boarded the transport, taking over for the teenager that had no idea what he was doing.

From there R2-D2 took full control of the X-Wing, flying the small ship without the need for a pilot. Luke piloted the transport back into space, able to fly it more effectively than by remote control. Soon they were back in space alongside the rest of the X-Wing squad, and going back into hyperspace for another jump across the galaxy. But there was only so far this transport could go, given the bare bones hyperdrive and 'emergency use only' navigation computer. Luke was a little worried the hyperdrive would burn out soon, so he plotted the shortest jump necessary to reach friendly territory.

"So how did you get your hands on this thing?" Luke asked, glancing at the teenager in the cockpit with him.

"I stole it," Sokka answered.

"There's got to be a story behind that," Luke asked.

Sokka nodded, though he kept his eyes on what Luke was doing with the controls. "Do you have an hour or two for me to tell it?"

"If we don't burn out the hyperdrive by then, yes," Luke said. He checked something on the controls. "These things weren't meant for long distance."

"Are we going to make it?" Sokka asked.

"Probably," Luke said. "But I wouldn't want to make another jump in this thing afterward."

"Is it really that bad?" Sokka asked.

"Whoever designed this thing really didn't know what he was doing," Luke said. "I mean, why bother putting in a hyperdrive at all if it can't even go thirty light-years without breaking down."

"I get it, this is a piece of junk," Sokka said. "I didn't really have any other choice."

"I figured," Luke said. "So… how did it happen?"

"Well…" Sokka said, taking a deep breath. "It all started with this guy that has spiky black hair…"

* * *

A nap helped Katara feel better, but it didn't fix the sick feeling in her gut. She sat up in the room Han lent her, looking around at all the various things he had in here. The valuable looking things she had spotted before her nap weren't there anymore, as if Han expected her to steal them when he wasn't looking. Katara stood up and walked out of the room, figuring that she might as well explore the ship a little while she had the time. Katara heard some voices coming down a corridor, and she walked over there to find them.

Katara entered a small room split into sections, one corner of it having a curved couch in the corner. She spotted Wedge and Wes sitting on the couch, facing a short circular table with a checkerboard pattern on top. They were playing a game that involved holographic pieces depicting various creatures, moving across the board and attacking each other. Although Katara had no idea what the rules were, it was clear that Wedge was winning. Given the smug look on his face when he ordered one piece to take out another, he was just about to finish the game.

"What are you playing?" Katara asked, standing next to Wes and leaning on the wall.

"Dejarik," Wes answered, watching another one of his pieces be removed. "And as you can see, I don't get to play it very often."

Wedge grinned, and then looked at Katara. "Whatever you do, don't play against a wookie."

"Why?" Katara asked.

"If you win, they'll rip your arms off," Wedge answered.

"That can't be true," Wes said.

"It totally is," Wedge said. "Why do you think wookies are banned from major tournaments? There's a reason for the stereotype."

"Uh…" Katara said, pointing toward the opposite entryway.

"He's over there isn't he?" Wedge asked. He saw Katara nod. "Crap."

A loud roar announced Chewbacca's presence.

Wedge turned toward the wookie. "Apologizing isn't going to help, is it?"

A growl seemed to say no, and Chewbacca walked away.

"Maybe you should play against him," Wes proposed. "And then let him win."

Katara managed to laugh at that, but it didn't last. She sat down next to Wes and rested her left arm on the table. "I don't suppose either of you know what's wrong with me?"

"Sorry, not a doctor," Wedge said. He made another move, and smirked when he saw Wes's reaction. "You're forked now. Anyway, Katara, are you sure it's not just a cold or something?"

"It's not," Katara said. "The only thing close to this was that one time a lunar… eclipse…"

Wes made the choice to save one of two pieces, and then looked at Katara. "What do you mean?"

Worry made the bad feeling worse, and Katara ignored Wes's question. She grabbed her waterskin, uncorked it, and made a pulling motion away from the waterskin with her free hand. Nothing happened, not even a single drop of water moving against gravity. Katara poured some of the water on the table, ignored Wedge and Wes's complaints, and then swept her right hand upward. But the water did not react to her command, instead dripping off the table and on everyone's feet. Katara repeated the movement to bend the water, but still nothing happened.

"It's not working," Katara muttered. She put her waterskin away and ran for the cockpit.

"Okay…" Wedge muttered, watching her leave. "What was that all about?"

"I dunno," Wes said. He looked at the table, frowned, and hit the surrender button. "Rematch?"

* * *

"Here we are," Luke said, pulling back on a knob. "We're coming out of hyperspace, now."

The blue void changed into long streaks of light, which shortened into the stars amidst the black void of space. Around the transport the X-Wing squad came out of hyperspace, escorting the transport into another solar system. This one had two suns orbiting each other, one a red giant and the other a white dwarf. There weren't any terrestrial planets in this system, just a couple of gas giants orbiting the pair of suns. Hardly the best place to set up a rendezvous point, but given the circumstances it was the only option available.

As the transport coasted into the system, Sokka couldn't help but stare at the two strange suns up ahead. "That… really drives it home, doesn't it. This is really far away from home."

Luke checked the navigation computer. "If this thing is right, you've only gone twenty-five light years."

"And how many miles is that?" Sokka asked.

"Let me put it this way," Luke proposed. "If we could see the light coming from your solar system, we'd see it as it was twenty-five years ago."

"That's really far," Sokka said. "I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around it."

"Oh if you think that's big, you haven't seen anything yet," Luke said. "The galaxy is over a hundred thousand light years across. You've only taken a very small step."

Sokka sat down, trying to imagine that kind of distance, and was failing at it. "I think I need a moment."

The transport continued on its way into the system, heading for the closest gas giant and its assorted moons. The largest of those moons was a typical ice shell world, its deep oceans buried beneath ice too thick to bother drilling through. Orbiting that moon was a large cruiser, shaped like a submarine but with various oval shaped compartments sticking out of the sides. Luke flew the transport straight toward that cruiser, and he started transmitting a signal to identify himself. Within moments there was a hailing signal in return, and Luke answered it.

" _Independence_ , this is Skywalker," Luke said. "We are requesting permission to board."

" _Permission granted,"_ an officer responded. _"Make it fast Skywalker. The admiral wants to jump to hyperspace before the hour is out."_

"Understood," Luke said. "Please send a scrub squad to the hangar as soon as we arrive. This rig's bound to have an imperial tracking device broadcasting as we speak. There's also an imperial pilot on board, ready for questioning."

" _Acknowledged,"_ the officer said. _"_ Independence _out."_

Luke shut off the signal, and then looked at Sokka. "I bet you'll be glad to get out of this tin can?"

"And into a bigger tin can," Sokka said.

"Fair enough," Luke admitted.

The transport flew into the _Independence_ 's hangar, followed by the X-Wing squad. They were barely inside when the hangar doors started to close, and the engines were still running when the hangar was sealed. After landing Luke opened the transport and walked out, followed by Sokka right behind him. Right beside the transport was Luke's X-Wing, and a machine was lifting R2-D2 out of his compartment to put it on the floor. Sokka stopped and stared at the little droid, rolling over toward Luke and beeping at him the entire way.

"You said you could handle it," Luke said. He listened to the droid beeping some more. "Hey it's not like I was going to abandon you out there. Besides, you did a great job piloting that thing."

Sokka would have asked about how Luke could understand the little machine's beeping, but he was too busy taking in everything else he saw around him. While most of the people moving about the hangar looked human enough, there were plenty that were clearly alien. They looked like fish that walked on legs, with big round eyes that swiveled around every which way. The various shades of orange skin were a little discomforting, though not as much as those webbed hands. The weirdest part was that the normal looking people and the fish aliens were getting along, as if there was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Okay, this is probably going to sound rude…" Sokka said, hesitating a little because of that. "What exactly are those guys?"

"Oh they're mon calamari," Luke answered. He stopped and leaned closer to Sokka to whisper. "Whatever you do, don't bring up the smell."

By then Sokka smelled something off, like fish and seawater fused together. "Ah, got it."

That smell got stronger as a group of the aliens walked past, heading into the transport to inspect the stolen craft. One of them stopped in front of Luke. "Welcome aboard Skywalker. The admiral would like to debrief you and your squad personally."

"These two as well," Luke said, pointing at Sokka. "He's the ones that brought the prize. I think he'll want to hear him out."

* * *

Katara wasn't sure what she was going to do.

Figuring out that the problem was her bending, or lack thereof, had Katara furious. She walked through the Falcon heading straight for the cockpit, where she figured Han was right now. Katara wanted to freeze him to a wall, but only got angrier knowing that she couldn't do that anymore. However when she got there Katara saw Chewbacca in the cockpit, hesitating at the thought of a wookie ripping her arms off. Judging by the look he was giving when their eyes met, Katara got the feeling that Chewbacca would actually do it.

Katara calmed herself, and she looked at Han. "We've got a problem here."

"It'll have to wait," Han said, keeping his eyes on the controls, his hand subtlety working on them. "We're coming out of hyperspace… now."

The _Falcon_ returned to normal space, and the view from the cockpit was dominated by a blue gas giant. Immediately the _Falcon_ banked left, swerving into a retrograde orbit around the planet. Directly ahead was one of many moons, this one being two thirds the size of Earth with shallow seas scattered across its surface. Han set a course for the moon's North Pole, currently in its local summer and experiencing a midnight sun. In moments the Falcon was flying through atmosphere and clouds, coming in for a landing on a vast sandy beach.

Along the way Katara felt something strange, but in a good way. The void within her was vanishing, and soon she felt as good as ever. Better even, feeling like she could take on the universe. She didn't even notice the smile until she saw her reflection, and by then the _Falcon_ had landed. Katara heard the engines shutting off and the entry ramp opening, and she was almost running there to get out of the ship. She was the first one out and setting foot on coarse sand, taking a breath of thick moist air and looking out at a crystal clear sea.

When Katara looked up, she got a sight she never could have imagined. "That's… wow!"

From here the blue gas giant filled up half of the sky, its bands of blue and darker blue clouds blending into the light blue sky around the planet. And that was only part of the planet visible up there, half a hemisphere of daylight with the straight edge slanted toward Katara's right and the curved edge pointed toward a very small sun. Just looking at the planet was mesmerizing, enough for Katara to feel like it would lift her off the ground. That planet up there put out more light than the full moon ever did, and it certainly put Yue to shame.

The sick feeling all but forgotten, Katara walked up to the edge of the nearby sea. "I wonder…"

Katara held her hands close to her chest, and then thrust them apart as far as she could. The water erupted in a geyser fifty feet high, and in a straight line farther than Katara could see. From there the water separated and flowed in opposite directions, creating twin walls of water that moved apart from each other, exposing the shallow seabed to air. The sea itself was split in two all the way to the other side, leaving a path wide enough for hundreds of people to cross on foot. Katara couldn't help but laugh, truly amazed by what she just did.

Meanwhile Han and Chewbacca had exited the Falcon, both seeing the parting of a sea. "You know, that's the sort of thing that makes you wonder if hokey religions are true."

When Katara lowered her arms the walls of water came crashing back together, and the resulting wave drenched her completely. She didn't care about that, turning around with a brilliant smile. "That… makes this whole trip worthwhile."

"I take it you're feeling better," Han said.

"A lot better," Katara said. A simple wave of her hand pulled the water out of her hair and clothes. "Okay, I've had my fun. Why are we here?"

"Meeting someone," Han answered. He looked around in every direction, including up. "She should have gotten here before us. Not sure what's taking so long."

Chewbacca roared something, and he laughed.

"I doubt she drank herself stupid," Han said. He spotted something in the corner of his eye, and he turned his head up and to the right. "That would be her now."

Han was looking at another one of the moons orbiting the planet, a heavily cratered rock about to transit the gas giant. A ship was coming from that direction, long and narrow and almost looking like a flying shoe. Like the _Falcon_ this ship looked like it had been heavily modified over the years, though it appeared to be in much better condition. This ship flew straight toward this moon, entering the atmosphere and diving toward the _Falcon_. The ship landed not far away, and a hatch near the back opened to let someone out.

A redheaded woman walked out of this ship, crossing her arms when she saw Han and Chewbacca. "Well now… fancy meeting you here Solo."

Han crossed his arms, indulging the woman's sense for theatrics. "You know, Delia, for a moment I wondered if you were going to sell me out."

"After that stint on Cyrkon, it's tempting," Delia said, taking a few steps forward. "But we know they'd just take me prisoner too."

"At least I can count on you covering your own ass," Han said. He reached into his pocket, took a few credit chips out, and tossed them to Delia. "Payment in advance, just the way you like it."

Delia caught the chips and pocketed them. "Very well, job accepted."

* * *

It was a short walk to the bridge of the _Independence_ , with Luke leading the way for Sokka. Along the way Sokka took in the sights as best he could, trying to remember the path back to hangar in case the worst happened. The bridge was a round room with stations lining the walls, save for one side where a long window showed the view of space. Most of the people on the bridge were mon calamari, and a big one in particular presided over the rest. Luke approached him in the middle of the bridge, and when he turned around the two shook hands.

"Skywalker," the mon calamari said, clearly happy to see him. "Glad you could join us."

"My pleasure," Luke said. He turned and gestured to the teenager behind him. "Ackbar, this is Sokka. He's the one that got the imperial transport sitting in your hangar."

"Ah yes," Ackbar said. "We may get one or two secrets out of it."

"Anything to help," Sokka said. He glanced out the window in time to see the stars turn into streaks, and then the blue void. "Where are we going?"

"Back to the fleet," Ackbar answered. He turned his attention back to Luke. "So, how did the scouting mission go? I mean besides the unexpected prize, of course."

"Generally speaking, it was a bust," Luke answered. "None of the systems we scouted were any good. Either the worlds were uninhabitable, or smugglers already claimed them."

"Figures," Ackbar said. He then glanced at the teenager. "What about his planet?"

"I don't know," Luke said. He turned back toward Sokka. "Where exactly are you from?"

"I'm from Earth," Sokka answered. "I'm told that it's in 'the middle of nowhere' space."

"Never heard of it," Ackbar said.

"That's probably for the best," Sokka said. "The Empire is invading Earth as we speak."

That bit of news had Ackbar's undivided attention. "How much of their forces have they committed?"

Sokka shrugged and held his hands apart. "I saw a bunch of those big triangle ships. And there was an even bigger ship in the middle."

"A Super Star Destroyer," Ackbar muttered. Certainly knowing where one of those monstrosities was lurking about would be useful information. "Skywalker, did you check the transport's logs?"

"Yes I did," Luke answered. "If it's accurate, the transport was launched in the Neutral Zone."

"Intriguing," Ackbar said, holding a hand up to his chin. "If the Empire is preparing for a full scale invasion, it will leave domestic forces relatively thin. This could be an opportunity to strike."

"Strike at Earth, or strike in general?" Sokka asked.

"Either or," Ackbar said. "It would depend on where the Empire's forces are at their weakest. Even then, an attack elsewhere could draw ships away from your world, making an attack there more likely to succeed. Regardless, we will need to adjust our strategy to accommodate this new information."

"I'm sure Leia and Mon Mothma will want to learn about it as soon as possible," Luke said. "They are with the fleet, right?"

"Yes," Ackbar answered. "It will take some time for us to get there. In the meantime, my men will prepare quarters for you and your guest Skywalker."

"Thank you," Luke said. "We appreciate it admiral."

Luke led Sokka out of the bridge, heading back into the main part of the _Independence_. Soon they found a particular pair of mon calamari crewmen, who then led them to a room on the same level as the bridge. That room was a set of living quarters, though divided into smaller portions to fit more people into and save space. The beds were small, but given the circumstance Sokka didn't really care. It was still a relief to be able to lie down in relative peace and quiet, and let everything that happened catch up with him.

And a sickening thought hit him. "I'm never going home, am I?"

"Never is a long time," Luke said. "It may take years, but I think you will get back there eventually."

"Still seems like I'm stuck here," Sokka grumbled.

"For now maybe," Luke said. "Ackbar will want you off his ship as soon as he can, so you'll probably be dropped off with the fleet. From there, well we'll see where it goes."

"I suppose," Sokka said. Then he remembered something. "Hey, I don't think I ever thanked you for picking me up. I probably would have died out there if you didn't."

"You're welcome," Luke said. "Force willing, we'll get you back home safe and sound."

* * *

Back in hyperspace again, Katara felt the sickness return.

At least now she understood what was going on, having enough pieces to put the puzzle together. While the _Falcon_ was in hyperspace there were no tides pulling on the ship, no moon in the sky exerting an influence on the world. The blue void had nothing to power a waterbender, and the lack of bending had the symptoms of an illness. In contrast, on the surface of that moon, the tides from the planet were far greater than on Earth, and so waterbending was stronger accordingly. And it only lasted so long as she remained on that moon, confirmed when she aboard a ship and went into hyperspace again.

Except this time she wasn't aboard the _Falcon_ , but the ship that Delia used. Not by choice either, but rather at one step away from gunpoint. Apparently Han had hired Delia to transport Wedge and Wes somewhere, and insisted that Katara go along with them. Given that the choice was either go with Delia or be stranded on that moon, Katara didn't really have any choice at all. Now Katara was sitting in the _Serendipity_ 's cargo hold, which was repurposed as a mobile cantina. But at least she had Wedge and Wes for company.

"Why are we riding in this bucket again?" Katara asked.

Wedge had taken out a deck of cards, and was shuffling while he answered. "Han needed to take care of something somewhere else and didn't need us tagging along. Delia happened to be in the area, so they came to an arrangement."

"Can we trust her," Katara said, glancing at the door leading to the rest of the ship.

"Probably not," Wes answered. "Han knows her through the smuggling trade. The one thing you can count on is that they'll go for the highest bidder."

"Most of the time," Wedge said. He stopped shuffling and started dealing cards between him and Wes. "Besides, Han only needed us for that one job. We've got other things to do once we get back to the fleet."

"I still need to get home somehow," Katara said.

"Ask the brass when we get there," Wedge suggested. He finished dealing, but didn't put the deck down. "Hey we're going to be in here for a while, so do you want me to deal you in?"

Katara took a look at the cards, and she shrugged. "Sure, it's not like I can go anywhere."

"Word of warning," Wes said. "I happen to be a mean sabacc player."

Although Katara didn't know what sabacc was, it didn't deter her from trying to play the game. Wedge took the time to explain the rules, which seemed to be simple enough. Seventy six cards, various values and face cards, closest player to a certain number wins the hand. Still, it took a couple hands for Katara to really start understanding the game, and she could see its uses in gambling. But Wedge and Wes were just playing for fun, since they didn't have anything to bet with anyway. It certainly helped pass the time, and Katara was even starting to have fun.

Sure enough, right when Katara was starting to get good at the game, it was time to quit. She felt a slight rumble in the floor, and noticed the others recognizing it. "What was that?"

"We're here," Wedge answered. He gathered up the cards and put the deck away. "Or we've broken down. Either way, we're getting out of this thing."

Another slight rumble signaled that the ship had landed, and the cargo hold door opened. Katara was the first one to get out, feeling a need to stretch her legs after being cooped up in that ship. She then discovered that she was inside an even bigger ship, looking to the left and seeing space out there. It seemed that she was in a large hangar, and smaller ships were passing through a blue field on their way to and from space. Most of those ships were smaller than the _Serendipity_ , looking like one man crafts meant to fly in swarms.

Wedge was next to come out, and he recognized markings on the far wall. "Welcome to _Home One_."

Right behind him Wes walked out, stretching his arms and smiling at familiar faces. "Good to be home."

Katara turned around to face them. "So what happens now?"

"Debriefing for us," Wedge answered, pointing to Wes and himself. "As for you, well I'm not sure."

"Well if you want to chat with the boss ladies, I suggest you look all impressive," Wes said. "You are the only person from your planet here, so technically that makes you the ambassador."

"I can work with that," Katara said.

Wedge and Wes led the way through the ship, waving at familiar faces that they passed by. Along the way there was a slight rumble everyone felt, the telltale sign of a similarly sized ship docking with this one. Katara noticed considerably more activity after that happened, as if the crew of this ship was expecting someone important to arrive. It was reason enough for a slight delay, as the docking hatch was on their route anyway. There was also a bit of a crowd there, men and women in uniform standing at attention while the hatch opened.

Katara got to see the people coming over from the docked ship, although the word 'people' was not the first thing that came to mind. "Huh? Walking fish. Who knew?"

"Hush," Wedge said, nudging her with his elbow. "That's the admiral."

"Oh," Katara muttered. She watched that alien enter, and was followed by several more. Then there were people that looked normal, and much to her shock she recognized someone. "Sokka!?"

Finally off the _Independence_ , Sokka hadn't expected to hear his name. "Katara!?"

Both started stuttering the same thing. "What…? How…? Why…? Never mind!"

Then the two siblings ran for each other, ignoring everyone else and even where they were right now. Both of them wrapped their arms around the other, the kind of hug only siblings could make. For a moment it was just the two of them, everything else pushed out of mind during this happy reunion. The tears were flowing freely, neither bothering to wipe them away. Afterward they held each other at arm's length, finally returning to the here and now. There was so much to ask, so much to tell, and no idea where to begin.

"I thought I'd never see you again," Sokka said.

Katara wiped away some tears. "Surprise."

They didn't say anything more, but instead hugged again, tempted to never let go.


	14. Sons and Daughters

Chapter 14: Sons and Daughters

It took quite a while for Sokka and Katara to catch up.

For one thing, they hadn't seen each other for months before all the craziness started. Sokka had been going around the world on a regular basis, while Katara had mostly remained in Ba Sing Se after the war ended. Add to that their vastly different experiences when the Empire arrived, there was a lot of stuff to cover to bring each other up to speed. Fortunately they had all the time in the world, or in the galaxy as the case may be. At this point it was great to just have each other for company, like the good old days before finding that one particular iceberg.

At the moment they were sitting in what looked like a lounge, filled with plenty of people and aliens making conversation. They were at a table in the corner, and Sokka had his back to a wall. "You know, this almost makes it worthwhile. Getting blasted into space I mean."

"Maybe," Katara said. "It's a good place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live out here."

"Yeah, too easy to get lost," Sokka said. "It's a wonder we both ended up in the same place."

"Fortunate we got picked up by guys on the same team," Katara said.

"I figure the Empire has lots of enemies," Sokka said. "Kind of nice to know they're organized."

"Not sure why they meet on a ship though," Katara said. "It seems kind of crowded."

"From what I've seen, it's just a temporary thing," Sokka said. "Some of the guys on the other ship complained about their base being destroyed."

"Huh," Katara muttered. "Wonder what they'll do about that."

* * *

"So it's Hoth or bust, right?"

That's what Luke figured, given everything he was aware of at the moment. He was in the private quarters of Princess Leia, invited there as a friend. Luke reported the results of his survey with the X-Wing squad, specifically the lack of viable results for the new base. Leia was disappointed, but not surprised. It had been a long shot when she sent him on the mission, done solely for the purpose of finding an alternative to Hoth. Now it seemed like that frozen world was the only choice, even if she didn't like to admit it.

"Afraid so," Leia said, sitting in her favorite chair. "We've put this off long enough already. Mon Mothma wants a decision made today."

"So that's why Ackbar brought his ship here," Luke said. "He wants to see it personally."

"It is a group decision," Leia said. "Afterward we'll be taking the fleet to Hoth to build the base."

"How long do you think it will take?" Luke asked.

"A couple of months, half a year at most," Leia answered. "We've got all the parts to get it done. We just need to get started."

"Still… it's Hoth," Luke complained. "Sooner or later we'll lose people to the cold."

"I know," Leia said. "So don't get lost in it and you'll be fine."

"Alright," Luke said, conceding the point. "So are we going to bring those stowaways with us? I get the feeling they'll only work with us if we promise to free their home world."

"Yes, this… what did they call it again?" Leia asked.

"Earth," Luke answered. "Apparently the Empire just conquered it."

"Well it will have to wait," Leia said. "We're not in a position to liberate any planets right now."

Luke nodded. "What do you want me to tell them?"

"Be honest," Leia suggested. "There's nothing we can do to help them until after our base is built."

"Okay," Luke said. "They're not going to like it, but their world is on its own."

* * *

Given his situation, looking out at Earth was a small comfort for Zuko.

Yet there was a hole in his stomach that only got worse, and there was nothing he could do about it. Here he was trapped in the enemy stronghold, having no choice but to comply with their terms. Sure it resulted in him getting reasonable accommodations on the _Executor_ , but it was really little more than a gilded cage. Zuko was still a prisoner in all but name, subject to the whims and desires of his captors. Soon he would be put to work for the Empire, and all he could do about that was attempt to minimize the loss of life.

At least he got a window, and had a great view of Earth. Zuko could also see two of the Star Destroyers out there, simply coasting along as if they belong here. There were many smaller ships flying from those Star Destroyers, heading down to Earth with men and supplies. Zuko didn't want to think about what they would be doing down there, so he hit the button to close the window shutters. He sat down on the end of a bed and put his hands over his face, feeling worse now than at the beginning of that three year search for the Avatar.

There was a buzz at the door, and Zuko stood up and looked over there. "What is it?"

An unfamiliar voice answered. "You've got a visitor."

The door opened, and two stormtroopers brought someone inside, someone Zuko recognized. "Azula?"

Somewhat recovered from the fighting, Azula was still exhausted but at least able to stand. Her hands were bound behind her back, kept inside fist-sized metal blocks that kept her fingers from moving. "So is this better cell a reward for good behavior, or am I missing something?"

"It's actually worse than that," Zuko said. He walked over to where Azula was standing. "I'm surprised they let you up here."

"So am I," Azula said.

One of the stormtroopers nodded to Zuko. "You get five minutes."

The stormtroopers left and closed the door, leaving Zuko alone with his sister. "You're looking better."

"Sleep helps," Azula said. She tried to wriggle her arms, but the restraints limited what she could do. "These don't."

"Sorry about that," Zuko said. "I'm told they're taking every precaution with you."

"Wrecking one of their big machines does that," Azula said. "So why aren't you in these things?"

Zuko sighed and looked away. "I caved in."

"Ah," Azula said. "What did they offer?"

"What you've always wanted, but with strings attached," Zuko answered. "I get to be Fire Lord, and nothing more than a figurehead."

"So you gave up," Azula surmised.

"Yeah, I did," Zuko admitted. "Tried talking, tried fighting, neither worked. This is really all that's left."

Azula didn't try to argue with that, instead just looking around. "At least they gave you a nice room."

Zuko walked over to the window and opened the shutters. "And a good view."

Seeing the Fire Nation from space, Azula gave the fainted glimmer of a smile. "That's true."

* * *

"You know, you're not supposed to do that."

Luke had gone to deliver the bad news, and had walked to the small room assigned to the two stowaways from Earth. He had spotted Katara leaving the room just as he arrived, and found Sokka inside looking out a window. However the _Home One_ had made the jump to hyperspace, so all one could see was the blue void. Luke's comment got Sokka to turn around and look at him instead, seeing him standing in the doorway. Sokka leaned back against the window, crossing his arms while looking Luke in the eye.

"Actually I don't know," Sokka said. "Is there a reason I shouldn't look out there?"

"It's been known to drive people crazy," Luke answered. "I have no idea why."

"It is kind of trippy," Sokka said. "So, what brings you down here?"

"Bad news I'm afraid," Luke admitted. "It will be a while before we can help your planet. I'm sorry."

Sokka sighed and looked away. "Why am I not surprised?"

"I wish we could do something, I really do," Luke said. "It's just that we don't have a base right now, the Empire destroyed our last one and we've been on the run."

"I get the picture," Sokka said. "Why do you need a base anyway? You've got these big ships."

"Big ships that need repair after every fight," Luke said. "There are some things that just can't be fixed in space. Without a base the whole fleet would eventually fall apart."

Sokka nodded, even though he didn't like it. "Well I appreciate you being honest with me."

Luke turned to leave, but hesitated and looked back at Sokka. "This base is going to take a lot of effort to build. We could use a few extra pairs of hands."

"Might as well,"Sokka said. Really he didn't have anything better to do. "Not like I'm going anywhere."

* * *

Leia was glad to get out of that meeting.

Sure it was good to see Ackbar and Mon Mothma, but that didn't mean she liked debating with them. Ackbar had tried to get more time to search for a better place to build, while Mon Mothma insisted that they start building now. Leia had to concede that Mon Mothma was right, and recommended that the fleet set course for Hoth. The order had been given out immediately, and the fleet was in hyperspace before the meeting was over. A few minor issues were resolved afterward, which felt like irrelevant minutia by the time she Leia got out of the meeting.

The first spot Leia went to afterward was the mess hall, her stomach rumbling by the time she got there. "I don't care what, just give me something."

A chef delivered with a plate of scrambled eggs, sprinkled with cheese and diced meat, and a glass of blue milk. Leia took the meal and looked for a good spot to sit down, which proved difficult while much of the crew was here for dinner. Of all the tables in the mess hall, only one had barely any people around it. The lone person there was the obvious reason why, one of the stowaways brought aboard and a stranger to everyone here. Leia considered finding somewhere else to sit down, but now was as good a time as any to talk with one of them herself.

Leia made eye contact as she put her meal on the table. "It's… Katara… isn't it?"

"Yes," Katara said, watching Leia take a seat. "Is there something you want?"

"Just to talk," Leia answered. "I've heard what you've gone through, but I want to hear it from you."

Katara sighed and put down her fork, not even bothering to look at her food now. "Okay, fine. We were just trying to rebuild and be ready for when aliens came back. We weren't even close when the Empire showed up, promising all sorts of good things before invading us. Then I find out about you guys, fighting the same enemy, and you can't do anything to help."

Leia patiently listened, and didn't say anything until Katara was finished. "I'm not going to make any promises. I have to put my people first, and you should know that. I can't risk it all just to liberate one world that was barely on the galactic map a week ago."

"I know," Katara said. "That doesn't mean I have to like it."

Leia nodded, and ate some of her meal. "If it's any consolation, fighting the Empire anywhere will help. It will certainly tie up resources. Maybe even pull a ship or two away from your world to deal with us."

"It won't be enough," Katara said. "Not unless you can topple the whole Empire."

"That's the goal," Leia said. "It is going to take years, but we will get it done. I'm sure of it."

* * *

A few days later, Zuko wasn't feeling much better.

He finally got to leave the _Executor_ , and got to return home after what felt like a lifetime. But seeing the Fire Nation capital in ruins killed the moment, should have been relief but was now only dread. When he arrived Zuko found that none of the original inhabitants remained, and the only people here were stormtroopers occupying the capital. If it was any consolation the stormtroopers had removed the bodies of the fallen from sight, though Zuko could still smell the stink of death everywhere. The only escape was in the incomplete palace, which was damaged from battle but still standing.

On one morning Zuko was in one of the higher floors of the palace, looking out a window at the ravaged capital below. "Well… at least they're doing something."

Occupying the capital wasn't sufficient for the Empire, not in the long term anyway. The Empire was here to stay, and it needed substantial changes for this place to be suitable for their needs. Workers were brought down to clear away the debris, tear down buildings that were beyond repair, and repurpose what could still be salvaged. Officers were already scouting for places to build new facilities, starting with barracks to house their men. Eventually they planned to transform the capital into a proper military base, the first of many on this world.

"What am I even doing?" Zuko muttered. He put his hands on the windowsill and looked down, seeing imperials already at work on the ground floor of the palace. "I shouldn't even be here."

Zuko left the room and walked through the palace, passing by the imperials assessing the place. He could hear them talking about how it would make a fine command center, after the necessary modifications to bring it up to code. Given that the palace had never been finished, the imperials could just build on to what was already done. Zuko ignored them and walked to the throne room, finding it empty and disturbingly silent. He found the empty throne and stood next to it, not yet ready to take it for himself.

Someone else entered the throne room, and Zuko turned when he heard the footsteps. "What is it?"

An imperial officer had entered. "It is time for your first appearance."

Zuko sighed, and then walked away from the throne. "And it begins…"

All the while, Zuko wished he could be anywhere else.

* * *

When the rebel fleet emerged from hyperspace, Katara knew it immediately. She felt her bending return once again, and her mood improved with it. Katara went to the closest window and looked out into space, wanting to see where they were this time. She couldn't see a sun anywhere, apparently it was behind the ship, but she could see a planet up ahead. It looked like a giant snowball, with absolutely no green or brown or blue features of any kind. Around the planet were three moons of various sizes, all barren worlds pitted with craters.

Soon Katara was on a shuttle leaving the _Home One_ , heading down to the planet along with many of the ship's crew. They didn't mind having an extra pair of hands, as long as they helped with building their new base. Everyone had been given a parka and other warm clothes, as the temperature at the landing site was well below freezing. That was in spite of the location being at the planet's equator, and in the middle of summer no less. Before long the shuttle was making landfall, and Katara couldn't wait to get out and breathe in fresh air.

Setting foot on thick snow, Katara felt more alive than ever. "It's like being back at home."

For an alien world so far away, this place was surprisingly familiar to her. The snow crunching beneath her feet sounded the same, the air she breathed tasted the same, even the light from a different sun looked the same. If Katara didn't know better she'd swear she was back at the South Pole, only the shuttle and the crew breaking the illusion. She took some steps across the snow to get away from them a little, taking in the sights of this snow covered rock. The best part was that she felt better than ever before, and that she had some understanding of why.

Katara heard someone walking up to her, and she turned to see Luke there in the same cold weather garb everyone was wearing. "Hey, want to see something cool?"

"Sure," Luke said.

Katara turned back the other way, holding her arms above her head. She threw her hands forward and then flung them apart, putting everything she had into her bending. The snow exploded in a violent frozen geyser, excavating tons of material and clearing a quarter mile. When the snow settled there was a hole thirty feet deep, exposing a layer of ice that hadn't seen sunlight in ages. Katara swiftly raised a hand above her head, and the ice melted into a river that flowed up and out of the hole. She let the water spill on the far side, mixing with more snow before quickly freezing into hard slush.

Luke stared at the hole now fifty feet deep, words failing him. "That's… wow…."

"I know right," Katara said, turning back toward Luke. "Normally I can't do anything near that big. But with those moons up there, I feel like I can do anything here."

"Is that so," Luke muttered. "The base will be built in no time if you're helping out."

"Just tell me how you want it done," Katara said.

"Alright," Luke said. He pointed over to a ridge not far from the landing site. "We were going to make the entrance right over there."

* * *

Sokka had overslept.

He couldn't really blame himself for that, given that he had long since lost track of time. His entire sense of day and night had gone completely screwy, which he figured was due to the fact that the concepts of day and night had no meaning in a spaceship. So when he had gone to sleep during the trip he missed the arrival, waking up to discover that the rebel fleet was in orbit above a planet. Katara had gone off ahead without him, leaving him alone when Sokka woke up. He got a good look at the planet out the window, and then left the room to look for his sister and friend.

As he walked through the halls Sokka felt pretty good, being well rested and with plenty of energy for a new day. For once it seemed like everything was going to work itself out, and that nothing could possibly ruin his good mood. He saw many of the people aboard this ship all heading in one direction, and so he walked that way to find out what was going on. That led Sokka all the way to the hanger, where many of those people were either boarding transports or helping to load them with equipment and supplies.

"Excuse me," Sokka said, walking up to a pilot. "Is there room for one more?"

"Afraid not," the pilot said. "Her highness reserved the last seats."

"Oh," Sokka said. He noticed a look in the pilot's eye, as if he was looking past Sokka. "She's right behind me, isn't she?"

Sure enough, Princess Leia was standing there. "Let him on. Mon Mothma isn't coming anyway."

"As you wish," the pilot said.

"Thanks," Sokka said, walking into the transport just ahead of Leia.

"Just pull your weight when we get down there," Leia said. She got aboard the transport and found her seat. "Everyone helps out, including the leaders."

Sokka nodded as he sat down. "I suppose I could do manual labor."

The transport quickly filled up with its designated passengers, people that seemed to be more important than the usual people aboard the ship. Sokka got a seat opposite from Leia, and on both sides of him there were two guys that he didn't know. The transport lifted off and flew out of the hangar, heading out for the planet below. There weren't any windows in this transport so Sokka couldn't see what was outside, but he certainly felt it when the transport hit atmospheric turbulence. Still he didn't really mind it, since the pilot knew what he was doing.

Sokka's eyes met Leia, and he smiled. "So… what's it going to be like down there?"

"Cold, snow, that's about it," Leia said.

"Neat," Sokka said. "It sounds like home."

"I wasn't told your planet was a snowball," Leia said.

"Well no," Sokka said. "I just grew up at the South Pole. It's pretty icy there."

"You must have some survival tricks then," Leia assumed.

"A few," Sokka said. "Not sure if they'll be much help on an alien planet."

Soon enough the transport landed on the planet's surface, and everyone inside put on winterized gear before heading out. Sokka put on the same gear as everyone else, finding it like a parka only more comfortable and more efficient at retaining heat. When the transports door opened Sokka was nearly blinded by sunlight, though it passed after taking a moment to adjust. Sokka followed everyone out and walked on fresh snow, taking his first breaths on an alien world. Leia was right behind him, and she was surprised by what she found.

"Huh…" Leia muttered. "They've been busy."

Construction of the rebel base had already begun, and it had progressed a lot farther than Leia had expected. The main entrance for a hangar was already finished, and it was being inspected before ships would be allowed to enter. Large mounds of snow and ice were left outside, excavated from inside when tunnels were made. Sokka and Leia walked into the new hangar with everyone else, getting to see the large space available inside. They also noticed that the people already here were only doing the metalwork, not one of them shoveling snow or chipping ice.

Sokka was surprised, but only by the scale. "Katara got a lot done."

"Indeed," Leia said. She could see the waterbender in the back of the hangar making a tunnel, moving tons of ice and water like it was nothing. "Remind me to never get on her bad side."

* * *

Azula wasn't sure how she knew it, but she was being taken away from Earth.

The stormtroopers had taken her out of her cell an hour ago, loaded her onto a shuttle, and sent her off to who knows where. Her hands were bound behind her back and attached to the seat, keeping her in that seat during the ride. This shuttle didn't have any side windows for her to look through, so she couldn't see where the shuttle was going. Still something told Azula that they weren't taking her back to Earth, though she wasn't sure if it was intuition or just a gut feeling. The stormtroopers seemed happy through, and Azula didn't like that one bit.

"Where are you taking me?" Azula demanded.

One stormtrooper shoved his blaster into Azula's shoulder. "Quiet."

"Might as well humor her," the pilot said. "It won't make much of a difference anyway."

The stormtrooper shrugged. "Alright, fine. If you really want to know princess, we're going to a state of the art research lab. They're going to take you apart, find out how your power works, and then use the leftover pieces for spare tissue samples. It will be very painful, like nothing you could ever imagine. And all the while you'll know that it could have been avoided, if you have just surrendered at the beginning."

Azula laughed. "Is that supposed to frighten me?"

"Not yet," the stormtrooper said. "The fear can wait until we arrive."

The pilot set in the course. "Engaging hyperdrive… now."

The shuttle lurched into hyperspace, leaving Earth far behind it. Azula felt the change immediately, like something had grabbed her heart and ripped it out. She lurched forward as far as the restraints allowed, fighting the urge to throw up. She failed in that fight, emptying her stomach on the floor. Her vision nearly faded to black, just short of passing out entirely. She could still hear the startled reactions of the stormtroopers, though the exact words were muffled to her. Azula didn't really care about them, feeling sicker than ever before in her life.

"The hell is wrong with her?" the stormtrooper asked.

"What's going on back there," the pilot asked.

"I think she's dying," the stormtrooper answered. He physically examined Azula in a few places, but she did not respond. "Yes, pretty sure she's dying."

"Seriously?" the pilot asked.

"She's definitely not faking," the stormtrooper said. He checked again to be sure, and got no response from Azula. "It started when we made the jump to hyperspace."

"Better report this in," the pilot said. He made some adjustments to the controls. "I'm taking us out of hyperspace. We'll turn around and head back from there."

The blue void changed back into stars, and the shuttle had to change course immediately. The premature return to normal space had dropped the shuttle right in the middle of a binary system, its two suns directly ahead. A blue giant and its medium yellow companion orbited each other close, their combined gravity pulling the shuttle forward. The intense light shined through the windows of the cockpit into the shuttle, blinding the pilot before the automatic shades activated. The pilot set a course to take the shuttle around the stars, so that it could turn around and make a jump back the other way.

The stormtrooper noticed Azula slouching in her seat, as if ready to nod off to sleep. "Well look at that. She's getting better already."

Indeed the sickness Azula felt had vanished, as if it had never been there to begin with. In its place was warmth that swelled from the very core of her being, the kind of raw heat that could be intoxicating. She felt the light of the two suns shining into the shuttle, so much brighter than the sun she knew. Azula took in a deep breath and tilted her head back, keeping her eyes closed while enjoying the moment. Then she took in a deep breath and opened her eyes, looking at the stormtrooper before unleashing her fury.

From between Azula's lips a plume of blue fire burst out, blown at the stormtrooper as if from the maw of a dragon. The blaze covered the stormtrooper from head to toe, burning through his armor and cooking him alive. With that same breath of blue fire Azula burned everyone else in that part of the shuttle, turning her head as needed to get the job done. When she was finished there were only charred corpses on the floor and scorch marks on the walls, and Azula wanted a glass of water for her parched throat.

Only the pilot was left unscathed, safe in the shelter of the cockpit. "What's going on back there?"

Azula was feeling far more powerful than normal, similar to the day that Sozin's Comet had returned. She didn't have the time to enjoy it, needing to get out of the restraints and deal with the pilot. She clenched her fists and intense heat radiated outward, warming up the metal so quickly it warped out of shape. The heated metal turned soft enough to tear apart with brute force, and Azula did just that by pulling her fists apart. She got up and hurried to the cockpit, ignoring the bodies that she had to step over to get there.

The pilot was in the middle of making a distress call. "Mayday! Imperial Command, shuttle nine-zero-zero-one is under attack. The prisoner is not contained. Repeat: the prisoner is not contained. Send help immedi-Argh!"

Blue flames incinerated the pilot where he was, fired from Azula when she entered the cockpit. Too late she realized the mistake she made. "Might have needed that guy…"

* * *

It was supposed to be at least a week before the rebels could start moving into the new base.

They only needed a day.

Thanks to Katara and her waterbending, the bulk of the work was completed far ahead of schedule. Leia already had quarters picked out and some of her things moved in, once the icy chamber had proper insulation put in. Luke was busy helping to install the various equipment the base required, first priority being the power systems and related infrastructure. Sokka was content just to help move things around, the one thing he was sure he could do here. By sundown the base was fit to house a small number of people, enough to continue the work well into the frigid night.

Late in the evening Katara took a well-deserved break, sitting down and having a hot meal in a mess hall she carved out of the ice a few hours ago. "I don't know about you, but I'm absolutely exhausted."

Sitting across from her was Leia, enjoying her own supper and present company. "You carved out this base singlehanded. You have every right to be worn out."

Overhearing her were Luke and Sokka, coming over to the table with their own meals. Luke sat down at Leia's side, grateful for the chance to get off his feet. "I see you two got the same idea."

Sokka sat down next to his sister, feeling sore in a few places. "Hey sis, long day?"

"It sure has been," Katara said, taking a moment to stretch her shoulder. "Still, I got a lot done. It would have taken weeks to do all that bending back home."

"Wait, I thought this was normal for you?" Luke said.

"No it isn't," Katara said. "My bending is a lot stronger here."

"Must be those moons," Sokka figured. Then he realized something. "I wonder…"

Katara knew that tone of voice. "You don't think…"

Sokka turned away from the table and raised his hand quickly, hoping his theory was right. Part of the frozen floor melted, followed by a few gallons of water rising upward like a geyser. "Yes!"

Some of that water rained back down on Luke, and his amazement was replaced by shivering. "Please don't do that again."

"Sorry," Sokka said. "I know that gets really annoying."

"You were right though," Katara said. "All you need for waterbending is more power."

"So does this affect everyone from your world?" Leia asked.

"Not this time," Sokka said. "If I have this right, only waterbending will be stronger here. The other three elements, they'd probably be about the same as normal."

"We only need the one you got," Luke said. "If we had a few more of you we'd be done in a weekend."

That remark got Leia thinking, something that she thought Katara and Sokka would like. "You know, that's the kind of resource we can't let the Empire control. Once this base is complete, the first thing we should do is send a stealth squad there."

Katara's eyes lit up with all the joy in the world. "You mean you'll help?"

Leia nodded. "I think you've earned it."

* * *

After a long day Zuko returned to the palace, wanting some time to be alone. He had been forced to make a few grand speeches to the Fire Nation people, lying through his teeth about how great times were beginning. He was already getting sick of being the Empire's pawn, but there was nothing he could do about it. And yet inside the palace he could not ignore the Empire's presence, for a messenger had been sent to deliver news. The messenger found Zuko just outside his quarters, and the private nature of the news got Zuko to bring the messenger inside.

"What is it?" Zuko asked, closing the door after they entered.

"There was an accident involving your sister," the messenger reported. "The transport carrying her was attacked earlier today. When it refused to surrender, the rebels destroyed the transport. I'm afraid there were no survivors."

"Did they recover any bodies?" Zuko asked.

"Proton torpedoes generally disintegrate the remains," the messenger said.

"I see," Zuko said. He turned away from the messenger and walked to a cabinet. "Please leave."

"As you wish," the messenger said. He left the room and closed the door behind him, leaving Zuko alone to think about the news.

"She's not dead," Zuko muttered. He opened the cabinet, took out a bottle of liquor, and poured a small cup. "Azula made it. Azula always makes it."

 _A/N: This story will be on hiatus for a while. More chapters need to be written, edited, and refined before continuing. Might need to change things before updating again. Apologies in advance if this takes too long._


	15. Gorilla Bear Warfare

_A/N: And we're back. Sorry it took so long._

Chapter 15: Gorilla-Bear Warfare

It had been seven months since the Empire took control of Earth.

After forcing the two main capitals to submit, it had been a simple matter to take over the rest of the world. The Grand Admiral's offer was repeated as often as necessary, shown alongside the results of those that fought the Empire and died trying, and the choice offered was a simple one. The vast majority of locals realized they had no chance at all, came to their senses on the matter, and surrendered their lands to the imperials. From there it was a matter of occupying the planet, securing the Empire's foothold and making it a spearhead for the invasion of foreign space.

During the seven months the Empire established a presence in every city on Earth, taking control over all governmental functions relevant to the occupation. Garrisons were created in all the modest towns and villages, housing stormtroopers that would patrol the streets night and day. Only the smallest settlements were left alone, though only due to a lack of manpower available from Death Squadron. Tie Fighters patrolled the skies at altitudes low enough for the locals to see, a constant reminder no matter where they were on this world.

Once the proper facilities were built, or repurposed from existing buildings, stormtroopers enforced the rule of law as the Empire saw fit. As long as the locals complied with the Empire's demands, they would be left to their own devices. When they refused to submit there would be punishment, usually to set an example for the rest to learn from. There were plenty of examples to make, but for each dissident hundreds were coerced into compliance. That was rather low effectiveness compared to the norm, but still worthwhile to the Empire.

However, total domination was far from complete.

On a rather pleasant day in Gaoling a dozen stormtroopers were marching down a street, fortunate to be stationed in the southern hemisphere and enjoying local spring. They were heading toward the marketplace in the center of town, one of many regular patrols through the city. Supplies from off-world were being distributed there, side by side with domestic merchandise available for sale. The stormtroopers entered the marketplace and marched past the various stands and shops, all eyes on them as they passed the people by.

Most of the people were looking with stares of fear and hate, which was not unusual for stormtroopers to see on many worlds. One elderly merchant in particular was trembling in fear, his back to a cart and arms held wide to shield his produce. It seemed like he was expecting something to happen, which was enough for stormtroopers to suspect him of subterfuge. Yet on approach it became clear that the merchant was already terrified, and it wasn't because of the stormtroopers, but rather from something else he believed to be threatening him.

The lead stormtrooper stopped in front of that cart, and the other stormtroopers stopped while he looked at the merchant. "Relax. If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear."

That did little to calm the merchant. "It's going to happen. It always happens."

The stormtrooper tilted his head to the right a little. "What's going to happen?"

There was a slight rumble in the ground, and the merchant reached further back to hold some of his cabbages. "That."

The ground split in two right down the middle of the stormtroopers, creating a crevice that grew wide enough to swallow a person whole. Four of the stormtroopers fell into that crevice, the rest reacting quick enough to get on one side or the other. Then the edges of the crevice crumbled into thousands of pieces, falling into the crevice and taking another two stormtroopers with it. Half of the squad was now buried in the rubble, and the other half had raised their blasters and started searching for the earthbenders that created the crevice.

Said crevice also swallowed the merchant's cart, destroying much of the produce. "My Cabbages!"

The lead stormtrooper immediately called for backup. "Command, squad fifteen is under attack. Earth elemental in play, we require immediate assistance."

The command center for Gaoling and the surrounding area was just outside the city, set up in a wide three story building built from imported imperial steel. A hundred stormtroopers marched out the front doors toward Gaoling at a fast pace, all with blasters raised and ready to fire. They were being watched from afar by a small group of locals, half a dozen young men in the ragged brown clothes common in the Earth Kingdom. They watched from a low hill while lying on their stomachs, all but concealed in the tall grass that covered the ground.

Leading the group was young man just short of twenty years, his long brown hair complimented by the mustache he had grown back in the war. "There's the signal."

Haru had set up the plan earlier, having a few friends cause trouble to draw out the stormtroopers. Now that enemy attention was elsewhere Haru and his group got to work, earthbending the ground open to access a tunnel they had made a week in advance. Once inside they hurried through to the far end, about thirty fifty feet below the center of the command center. A spike of solid granite was waiting to be used, directly beneath a forty foot shaft. Haru and his group got around the spike of granite and worked together, combining their earthbending to propel the spike upward on a column of rock.

Granite tore through dirt and soil like paper, and the sharp tip punctured steel as if it were weak flesh. The floor of an office was torn asunder in an instant, and the granite spike hit the ceiling and got lodged into it. The column of rock sank back into the shaft, and quickly returned with Haru and the others with it. On arrival they shattered the top of the column and hurled the pieces outward, striking down imperials that were in this office. Afterward Haru retrieved the granite spike from the ceiling, pulling it down with earthbending before breaking it into smaller pieces.

"In and out fast people," Haru ordered. With earthbending he shaped some of the granite into gauntlets, and then made a tall granite kite-shield. "Come on."

The others did the same earthbending he used, each making a set of granite gauntlets and kite-shields. Together they left the office and hurried down a hallway, immediately meeting resistance from stormtroopers. Although their numbers had been reduced, there were still plenty inside the command center. A dozen blasters opened fire down the hallway, only to strike the granite shields and leave small scorch marks. Haru and the others charged down the hallway with their shields locked together, and they rammed the stormtroopers like a Fire Nation tank.

Knocking down the stormtroopers knocked the blasters from their hands, scattering them far down the hallway and out of their owners' reach. Haru had to punch a still-conscious stormtrooper in the face, the granite gauntlet cracking the helmet in the process. A few other stormtroopers suffered the same beating, and the bodies were left where they lay. Afterward Haru and the others moved to the end of the hallway, checking the rooms they passed in search of what they wanted. More stormtroopers arrived to block their path, to just as much effect as the first group.

After dealing with those stormtroopers Haru and the others entered the last room, a supply room filled with blasters and other assorted technological toys. "Grab what you can and let's go."

* * *

It was a cold day in the city of Yu Dao, a frigid breeze shaking icicles off of tree branches to fall onto thick snow below. Winter had come around again with a vengeance, complete with treacherous weather for the first of the old Fire Nation colonies. Everyone was wearing their thick winter clothing, and no one noticed another long cloak amongst many others. It was a good time of year to conceal one's identity, covering up under the pretense of protection from the cold. Sure he was still shorter than the typical citizen, but not by enough to draw attention to Aang.

The young Avatar missed flying in the air, missed the sky bison that was his best friend. It was too dangerous to fly while the imperials patrolled the skies, the risk to Appa's life far too great. Shortly after leaving Ba Sing Se he had found a place where Appa could be safe, and Aang had promised that they would meet up again someday. From there Aang had walked across the Earth Kingdom, disguising himself when necessary, and doing whatever he could to oppose the Empire. This journey had brought him to Yu Dao, looking for those with likeminded goals.

His long cloak covered everything from the neck down, and a hood covered most of his head. Aang had a thick hat on underneath the hood, concealing his bald head from the people in front of him. He did get a few odd looks from people of Fire Nation descent, particularly in regards to the headband covering the tip of his arrow tattoo. Apparently a few of them had attended that one particular school in the Fire Nation, and were wondering why the uniform's belt was on someone's head. For everyone else there was nothing odd about Aang's look, and really he was only hiding from the stormtroopers on patrol.

Aang walked into the Yu Dao marketplace and pretended to shop for thicker clothing, only glancing at the fabrics and their associated prices. From here he could see city hall at the center of Yu Dao, which the imperials had commandeered for a temporary base of operations. Stormtroopers were patrolling the streets around city hall, some entering the marketplace in small groups. Aang could hear one small group talking to each other, something about an attack down in Gaoling. He couldn't hear specifics before the stormtroopers left, and he wasn't about to ask for them.

After ten minutes of waiting Aang's contact arrived, that being a short and broad backed teenager. "What have you got for me Sneers?"

"They're ready to meet you," Sneers answered. He discreetly passed Aang a small note. "She finally found an excuse to be away for a day."

"Thank you," Aang said, pocketing the note. "Better go before you're missed."

Sneers nodded. "Take care of yourself down there."

For appearance's sake Sneers didn't leave immediately, instead getting into an argument with a shopkeeper over price gouging. Aang in turn purchased a large bag from a different merchant, similar to the one Sokka had gotten way back only red and with the Fire Nation insignia. Looking like a satisfied customer Aang left the marketplace, the red bag slung over his shoulder while he read the note Sneers gave him. The note told Aang where he needed to go, and soon he was entering a narrow alley near the wall that surrounded Yu Dao.

In the alley Aang stomped his foot on the snow-packed ground to use vibration sight, not to the same degree as Toph could of course, and confirmed the second part of the note. There was a secret passage hidden in the alley beneath the snow, and Aang opened a false floor with earthbending. Aang jumped down the resulting hole and closed the entrance behind him, then started walking down a narrow tunnel that ran beneath the city streets. After a short walk it seemed like he hit a dead end, only for the rock to be moved out of the way as he approached.

On the other side was a teenage girl in red and green clothing, her brown hair pulled back and letting Aang see her fair face. "Avatar, you're early."

"Please, just call me Aang." He made a polite bow, and the girl did the same. "You must be this Kori I've heard so much about."

"Not much to tell," Kori said. She crossed her arms while Aang pulled back his hood. "I'm just another girl that wants the invaders gone."

"The girl that's leading the resistance here," Aang added. "And if I'm not mistaken, you've got a unique position in Yu Dao, being the mayor's daughter and all."

"I see you've been paying attention," Kori said.

"Just following the clues you laid out for me," Aang said. "So, what did you want me here for?"

Kori turned and walked back the way she came. "Follow me and find out."

Aang walked behind Kori through the tunnel, trusting her to find her way even in the dark. As they walked Aang figured they were heading deeper into the city, judging by the foundations the tunnel weaved in between more often. Soon enough they saw light up ahead, coming from around a corner before their destination. There was a small cavern hidden beneath the city, illuminated by torches set up along the walls. Two dozen men and women were training here, a mix of teenagers and young adults preparing for battle.

The weird part was that they trained with a mix of earthbending and firebending, hurling rocks and flames back and forth around the cavern. Whatever divisions existed between earthbenders and firebenders had ceased to exist, now committed to working together against a bigger foe. Together they combined the strengths of two elements while erasing their weaknesses, becoming far more effective than either element could be alone. They seemed to have gotten their technique down well, and were putting on a show for the Avatar's arrival.

"What are you going to do with them?" Aang asked.

"Give them to you of course," Kori answered. She leaned back against the cavern wall. "I can't be seen leading them. My father would be killed immediately, and we'd lose our only inside connection."

Aang watched the assorted benders a little while longer, and he made his decision. "Fine, I'll do it. But we do things my way, or not at all."

* * *

It was a successful raid, all things considered. Haru and his earthbenders had escaped the imperial command center with minimal casualties, just a few flesh wounds and no fatalities. In exchange they had acquired a few dozen blasters, five complete sets of stormtrooper armor, over fifty of what he assumed were grenades, and other assorted tech that Haru couldn't even begin to identify. All of it was brought back to the point of entry and taken underground, and the entrance was sealed after everyone was through.

They had hauled it all away in stone carts moved with earthbending, going through a long tunnel to emerge far away from Gaoling. It took some time to pass through the tunnel, taking care to avoid unnecessary earthbending that might cause tremors and give them away. Haru was the first to surface near the mountains north of the city, checking to make sure it was safe before the others could emerge. They were not far from the arena that once housed the Earth Rumble tournaments, abandoned since the end of the war.

"We're clear," Haru said. Although he didn't see any stormtroopers nearby, he didn't want to be out in the open for very long. "Quickly, get it in there."

At the base of a mountain was a cave, one of many that had been carved out by earthbenders over the centuries. Haru and the others hauled their loot into the cave, and then moved a layer of rock to close the entrance. The resulting darkness only lasted a few brief moments, until someone lit the first of many torches mounted on the cave walls. The light showed the way to the back of the cave, and someone else was waiting for them there. Although Haru didn't trust the newly acquired ally, Mai knew more about alien equipment than he ever could.

Wearing the alien armor she acquired over a year ago, albeit with the long gone fabrics replaced with her normal Fire Nation clothes, Mai stood with her back to a wall. "You weren't followed?"

"No," Haru answered. The earthbenders stopped the stone carts behind him, and he picked up one of the blasters. "This is a start, but it's nowhere near enough."

"Let me see one," Mai asked. Haru passed her a blaster, and she examined it closely. "It looks simple enough to use."

Haru eyed the other kind of blaster on Mai's right arm, the one with a wide base and narrow nozzle. "How does it compare to that one?"

Mai took a few shots at the cave wall. "It's faster, but doesn't do as much damage."

Haru took a look at the smoldering holes the blaster left in the wall. "At least we know exactly how thick our defenses need to be."

"Now we need to work on offense," Mai said. She put the blaster back with the rest, and she faced the earthbenders. "I've got people ready to meet in the Chin village ruins. We'll head out in a few days, get everyone armed and practicing with these weapons."

"It might take a while to get there," Haru advised. "The invaders will be crawling all over the countryside soon looking for us. We'll have to make the entire trip underground."

"Get some rest then," Mai insisted. "You've got a lot of earthbending to do."

* * *

The ground collapsed, and then everything was on fire.

Stormtroopers fell into the hole, and those that didn't were overwhelmed by the blaze. Yu Dao city hall now featured a burning hole in its basement, in the one spot that hadn't yet been reinforced with imported imperial steel. The tools and materials needed to correct that oversight were now on fire, along with the stormtroopers still in the basement. Firebenders leapt through the hole and extinguished the flames, clearing the way for the earthbenders right behind them. They made certain that the stormtroopers would not be a problem, and quickly took positions at the door.

Last to come out of the hole was Aang, back in his traditional Air Nomad clothes. "Go."

The dozen benders Aang had brought with him charged through the door, running up the stairs that led from the basement to the rest of city hall. They reached the ground floor and hurried through the main hallway, noticing that much of the décor had been replaced with imperial propaganda. At every side passage the firebenders set them on fire, spreading a blaze through city hall everywhere except in the direction they were headed. As they moved the earthbenders tore up the floor behind them, using what little rock remained between the floor and the metal reinforcements below it.

At the end of the hallway was an office, currently with a handful of stormtroopers and imperial officers inside. A burst of flames knocked down the door, and Aang barged inside. Spinning his staff created a maelstrom of wind, blowing the imperials off their feet and slamming them into the walls. Aang then restrained the imperials with earthen bonds, pinning them to the walls by their wrists and ankles. In one corner of the room was a metal crank, and Aang spun it around several times. The crank triggered a mechanism hidden in the wall, leading to a specific alarm sounding throughout city hall.

"That ought to get everyone out," Aang said, hearing the fire alarm. He closed his eyes and stomped his foot, then pointed at the far wall. "This way."

Earthbenders promptly knocked down that wall, and as everyone passed through the hole the firebenders set the office ablaze. The fire alarm continued to ring everywhere, and the imperials occupying city hall were mobilizing in response to it. The fact that there was an actual fire burning the building helped sell the alarm, and the firebenders were spreading it behind them. The appropriate response to the alarm was an evacuation of all nonessential personnel, getting them out of harm's way while firefighters dealt with the blaze.

That was how Aang wanted it, all the innocent civilians removed before the next step. The real goal was the weapons storeroom set up in city hall, up on one of the higher floors and surrounded by stormtroopers. The earthbenders hurled a large chunk of rock at the ceiling and punched a hole through it, as well as the next two ceilings above that one. With the wind helping him Aang jumped through the holes, reaching the storeroom and the prizes inside. There were enough weapons and explosives here for a small army, simply waiting for enough hands to wield them.

Aang set them on fire.

Afterward he dropped through the holes and got back to the others. "Everyone out, now!"

They were only halfway there when all the explosives in the storeroom detonated. The explosion blew out a hole in the side of city hall, several floors high and just as wide across. A thick plume of smoke rose out of the hole, adding to the smoke from the still burning fires. Everyone inside city hall had a nasty ringing in their ears, including Aang and his group as they were leaving. The way they came in was currently burning, and all the regular exits were blocked by stormtroopers. So the earthbenders knocked down a wall instead, and the firebenders followed them outside.

Last one out was Aang. "Scatter!"

No one needed to be told twice. By the time the imperials had the situation under control, they had disappeared into the crowds of Yu Dao, gone in the wind.

* * *

The ruins of Chin Village were only a few days away from Gaoling, but evading imperial patrols lengthened the trip to a week. Chin Village used to be a place that outsiders avoided at all costs, but that had abruptly changed over a year and a half ago. According to the people that had once lived there, the battle of gods had briefly taken place here. It left a crater in the center and every building destroyed, and rather than rebuild the inhabitants simply abandoned the place. Because no one was living here the imperials did not bother with it, leaving the ruins a safe place to avoid imperial attention.

Mai and Haru and the earthbenders reached the ruins just before nightfall, hauling their stolen equipment in wooden carts covered up by tarps. But they weren't the only ones taking shelter here, finding a dozen Fire Nation soldiers camping in a few demolished buildings. Those soldiers were expecting the new arrivals, as Mai had sent a message ahead of them. She was pleased to see Ty Lee with them, as they had parted ways shortly after leaving Ba Sing Se. Ty Lee still had her own set of alien armor, but with her usual pink clothes underneath it.

First thing Ty Lee did was hug Mai. "You made it. I was getting a little worried for a bit."

"So we took our time," Mai said, gently nudging Ty Lee to get her to let go. "We can't be too careful."

Ty Lee let go of Mai and took a step back. Then she looked over Mai's shoulder and saw Haru. "Who's the hunk?"

"It's Haru," he corrected, arms crossed and looking at the girls. Then he pointed at one of the stone carts to his left. "So are your guys going to take these things or not?"

The soldiers quickly helped themselves to the blasters, and there were plenty to go around. They tested the blasters by shooting at the rubble of a building, blasting it into even smaller pieces with sustained firing. They got a good feel for the new weapons, appreciating the simplicity of the point and squeeze the trigger controls. Closer examination revealed a second setting, which had the blaster firing blue rings instead of red bolts. That setting didn't seem to do anything to the debris, which had everyone wondering why that setting was there at all.

However, during the testing Mai got a bad feeling, and she saw lights on the horizon. "Everyone stop."

Everyone did as Mai asked, and when the firing stopped all she heard was quiet breathing. By now the sun had nearly set in the west, and lights on the eastern horizon told her someone was out there. And the lights were awfully bright for being so far away, which had Mai suspecting the worst. Hand signals told everyone else to take cover, and the soldiers complied immediately. The earthbenders took a moment to bury the stone carts in the ground, and then joined the soldiers behind the debris of several buildings.

Mai's suspicions were confirmed when the lights got closer, for they were coming from machines that only the imperials possessed. Those hovering speeder bikes were also faster than any Fire Nation tank, equipped with blasters and bright headlights that lit up the roads half a mile ahead of them. Twenty of them were heading toward the ruins, while others were driving toward other places along the coastline. Mai used hand signals to give orders, telling everyone to get ready for a fight. They only had a few minutes to prepare for the imperial's arrival, a few minutes to set up an ambush.

The speeder bikes slowed down as they approached the ruins, the end of one possible road the thieves could have taken. The stormtroopers riding the bikes parked at the threshold, getting off the bikes and drawing their blasters. They got into formation and marched into the ruins, looking for anyone or anything that did not belong here. They found signs of disturbed earth, enough to tell that earthbenders had been here recently. Footprints were all over the place, another sign that their quarry was nearby.

"They're here," one stormtrooper reported. He gave the hand signal to advance. "Fan out, find them."

The earthbenders struck first, shattering the top layer of earth into a hail of gravel. At the same time the soldiers fired their stolen blasters, shooting from cover in demolished buildings. Four stormtroopers suffered direct hits and fell, while the rest took aim and fired back. From a different direction Mai fired her arm-mounted blaster, hitting three more stormtroopers right in the back. While those fell the rest were bombarded by large boulders thrown by earthbenders, forcing the stormtroopers to scatter and avoid crushing.

From a third direction more blaster fire came, Ty Lee having a blaster in each hand and firing wildly. Three more stormtroopers fell, leaving only ten of them left standing. Their formation broken and targets split in three directions, their numbers quickly fell further. Two kinds of blaster fire and hurled boulders brought them down, and only five were left when they tried to retreat. One of them managed to access his radio before a boulder hit him, undoubtedly alerting his superiors to the battle here. It was over a moment later, but there would be another battle soon if everyone was still here.

Fortunately the spoils of war could prevent that.

Ty Lee was tucking her blasters away when she approached one of the speeder bikes. "So how do you ride one of these things?"

"Let's find out," Mai said. She approached one of the bikes and examined the controls. "It looks intuitive enough, that handle gets squeezed and turned."

Someone started a speeder bike, and screamed when it took off with him on it. Everyone saw it crash into a demolished building, and then they heard Haru's voice. "I'm okay!"

"Smooth," Mai muttered, putting one hand over her face. "Everyone, learn from that. Then load up these things with all of our stuff. I want to be gone before reinforcements arrive."

* * *

Yu Dao was under lockdown for a week.

The imperials did allow anyone to enter or leave the city, on foot or in the air or even underground. So Aang didn't even try to leave, having recovered his disguise and returned to hiding in plain sight. Aang spent the days staying in an inn, run by a lovely old lady that was a friend of Kori's. When stormtroopers came by investigating every single building in the city, that old lady gave Aang enough warning time to avoid detection. They came around multiple times each day and each night, continuously searching for the ones that blew up part of city hall.

Aang was trying to sleep when there was a familiar series of knocks at the door. "Again already."

The old lady opened the door of Aang's room, but instead of looking fearful she seemed happier than usual. "You have a visitor."

She stepped out of the way, allowing Kori to enter the room. "You're looking well."

"Yeah, all things considered," Aang said. He wished he had a window, but understood why that was not an option. "Did everyone else make it?"

Kori looked away. "We lost Yan and Diyu, stormtroopers captured them. Shao was injured in the escape, Sneers is tending to him now. Everyone else is in hiding all over the city."

Aang sat down on the bed, looking down at the floor. "Did we make a difference?"

"You made an impact," Kori said. "Word through the grapevine has it that more people are resisting, outside of Yu Dao anyway. If the invaders can be hit hard here, they can be hit anywhere."

"Not anywhere," Aang said. He looked at the ceiling. "We can't hit them up there. They hold a high ground that's beyond our reach."

"For now," Kori said. She sat down beside Aang. "We'll deal with that when we need to. At the moment all we have to do is deal with them down here. If they really want our world, we'll make them pay dearly for it."

Aang closed his eyes, thought about what was going on, and then looked at Kori. "Is everyone okay with this? Are they all committed to fighting until the end?"

"Yes they are," Kori said. "We're just waiting for another opportunity to strike."

Aang stood up, turned around, and offered a hand to help Kori up. "Let's get to it then."


	16. Lab Rat Bats

Chapter 16: Lab Rat-Bats

"Where's a sky bison when you need one?"

Toph was getting sick of walking all day every day, sorely missing the big fuzz ball Appa now. It had taken months to travel across the Fire Nation on foot, the only breaks being boat rides from one island to another. That was no small thanks to the imperials restricting travel, stopping the big ships from sailing straight to the Earth Kingdom, requiring several smaller boat rides to reach the smallest and easternmost island. Now Toph was walking down a narrow dirt road, heading for a small port town for the last trip across water.

"I suppose your feet are getting pretty sore right around now."

Suki was walking right beside Toph, wearing plain red civilian clothes instead of her uniform, which she kept in a large bag strapped to her back. Before starting this little trek Suki had the remaining Kyoshi Warriors scatter, blending into the public and taking different routes back to the Earth Kingdom. At this point Suki figured she was well ahead of the others, given the various roadblocks she had encountered on this path and the greater obstacles to other routes. There was one more small boat ride left to take, and this journey would be halfway complete.

"It is just one more, right?" Toph asked. "There isn't another island between here and home is there?"

"Not unless a volcano went off underwater," Suki said. "We should be done with sailing by morning."

"Finally," Toph said, throwing her hands up. "Let's get this over with."

"It's not that bad," Suki said. She looked up at the sky, spotting some of those small imperial ships flying overhead. "It could always be worse."

Though she could not see them, Toph heard those ships in the distance. "That's the third time today."

"Good reason to stick to the low road," Suki said.

"Yeah," Toph grumbled, even if she didn't like it. "I bet Twinkletoes would enjoy riding those things."

"I still don't get that nickname," Suki admitted.

"It just seemed fitting for Aang," Toph answered. She thought about telling more, but then her feet saw something that interrupted the conversation. "Oh great, this again."

They had reached the threshold of the port town, really just a low wooden fence with a gate and not much else. The gate was open and people were passing through it, but there were a pair of stormtroopers standing guard. As they got closer Toph noticed more stormtroopers inside the town, but far fewer than in all the other towns she had passed through on her way here. They hadn't even bothered to establish a proper garrison here, instead operating out of a troop transport that landed just outside the town.

Toph and Suki got inside the town easily enough, but as they approached the port two stormtroopers got in their way. "Madams, identification please."

"Just a sec," Toph said, getting her passport out of her pocket. "Here, take it."

Suki already had hers out. "It's all here."

One stormtrooper examined the passports, checked the names on a small electronic device, and then handed Suki's back first. "This appears to be in order."

"What about mine?" Toph asked.

The stormtrooper hesitated, checked his device again, and then handed Toph's passport back. "Sorry Ma'am, we can't let you on the boat."

"What?!" Toph yelled. "Why not?!"

The stormtrooper checked his device one more time. "New orders from command: known earthbenders are to remain where they are until further notice."

"Figures," Suki grumbled. She glanced at Toph, then a boat in port, and then Toph again. "Well, I think you know what this means, right?"

Stretching her vibration sight to the limit, Toph saw sailors boarding the ship, and it seemed like they were getting ready to leave. Getting an idea, Toph cracked her knuckles and faced the stormtroopers. "Okay boys, good luck keeping this earthbender here!"

Toph punctuated that by raising both fists, which made slabs of rock rise up from beneath the stormtroopers and toss them away. Suki was already running for the boat, signaling to the sailors to get the thing moving sooner rather than later. The stormtroopers hit the ground, and Toph hurled mounds of dirt at them before they could get back up. Toph and Suki wasted no time running for the boat, getting up the entry ramp as the sailors were about to remove it. By then it was too late to delay departure, and the boat was moving before any of the sailors could do anything about it.

The land vanished from Toph's sight, and she kept one hand on a railing for balance. "I don't hear any blasters going off. Are they taking time to aim at us?"

Suki saw the stormtroopers digging themselves out of the dirt, already looking small as the boat took them away. "I don't think so."

Once they were out of the dirt, one stormtrooper turned toward the other. "Calling it in…"

"Don't bother," the other one interrupted. "Unless you want 'humiliated by a small girl' on our record."

"Point," the first stormtrooper conceded. There was a brief moment of quiet for them, until he looked at the other stormtrooper again. "Any chance there's an update on the Gaoling situation?"

* * *

Grand Admiral Thrawn was not pleased.

He was sitting in his office aboard the _Executor_ , just finished reading the latest reports from the planet surface. There had been two substantial attacks on imperial assets within days of each other, both resulting in the loss of weapons and gear to the enemy. The first attack had stolen enough for a small battalion, while the second had settled for simply destroying a small stockpile. The locals didn't have the tech for instantaneous long-range communications, which meant that the two attacks had occurred independently of one another.

Clearly more precautions had to be taken to prevent more attacks from happening in the future. Thrawn gave the order for more stormtroopers to be deployed, along with more AT-STs and AT-ATs for ground support. More men and resources were sent planet side, so that the efforts to construct new garrisons could be completed on an accelerated schedule. It wouldn't do much to ward off resistance from determined individuals, but would certainly make it harder for them to accomplish anything of importance.

After making the last order Thrawn left his office, taking a stroll through the halls of the _Executor_. He took a turbolift to one of the lower decks, reaching a laboratory located not far from the brig. Inside he found imperial scientists working hard on their latest project, analyzing biological samples taken from the locals held captive aboard this ship. With enough time and study they hoped to deconstruct the supernatural abilities the locals possessed, decipher exactly how they operated, and possibly recreate them in loyal servants of the Empire.

The head scientist was in the middle of the lab, currently looking at a blood sample through an electron microscope. His short grey hair was disheveled from prolonged work, having buried himself in his research. The goatee he kept had unshaven stubble all around, which he occasionally scratched at when he had a free hand. Mismatched eyes gave away the extensive modifications this scientist made to his own biology, the left eye a normal yellow and the right eye large and black. That eye came with the green scales of a reptilian species, grafted onto his face to make use of that species form of sight.

Thrawn stopped on the opposite side of the scientist's table. "Have you made any progress, Cylo?"

"In the file," Cylo said, not even bothering to look up.

There was a computer terminal on the next table over, and Thrawn accessed it with his personal codes. He skimmed through the collected notes assembled so far. "You've been busy."

"It's a new field of study," Cylo said. He switched out the blood sample for a piece of bone from the same subject. "There's so much to learn, yet only so many hours in the day to learn it."

Thrawn looked at the notes again, and noticed something missing. "I see you haven't attempted to create a hypothesis yet."

"Insufficient data," Cylo said. He made some adjustments to the microscope. "It's been difficult to find evidence of the source for the locals' abilities. All the usual tests have been inconclusive."

"Perhaps you require more test subjects?" Thrawn proposed.

"Baseline locals would be much appreciated," Cylo said. He turned off the microscope and stood up straight, and he turned to look Thrawn in the eye. "The subjects we have all possess the abilities. My experiments are lacking proper controls."

"That can be arranged," Thrawn said.

"More variety would be nice as well," Cylo said. "I'm told there are four different powers, I only have two types to experiment on."

"Of course," Thrawn promised. "You'll have them before the day is out."

* * *

Toph didn't like snow.

Although the last boat ride was short and quick, the change in scenery was a drastic one. Unlike the ever warm Fire Nation islands, the Earth Kingdom continent was well into the cold grip of winter. The latest storm of the season had hit this northern colony, and everything was covered in several inches of fresh snow on top of the older snowpack. People were in front of their homes shoveling the snow away, and special vehicles were being deployed to clear the roads. The sidewalks were still covered in thick snow, and Toph did not enjoy walking through it.

"Come on, the boots look good on you," Suki said.

"Pretty sure that's a lie," Toph said. Then she shrugged and held her hands up. "But how would I know? These boots are screwing with my sight."

For the sake of avoiding frostbite on bare feet, Toph had reluctantly agreed to putting on a pair of boots, at least until they were out of the snow in the southern lands. The thick warm leather shielded her feet from the cold, but also buffered the vibrations she used to see. The world she saw was dulled and foggy, the finer details lost to her. So she stayed close to Suki, not wanting to lose sight of her only companion amidst a fuzzy crowd. Toph resigned herself to suffer through this, at least until they could reach southern and warmer climates.

Yet there was something unmistakable, even with Toph's senses dulled. "They're here too."

"Yup," Suki confirmed. "We've got stormtroopers."

Not far away a small group of them patrolled the streets, snow crunching under their hard boots. This colony was big enough to warrant a small barracks to house stormtroopers, but not big enough to construct a new building just for them. Suki saw another group exit a former town hall, ignoring the cold as if it wasn't there. And then she saw two more groups coming from another direction, and then another group up ahead and marching towards them. Suki and Toph quickened their pace through the streets, and the stormtroopers followed suit.

"They're coming for us," Toph said.

"They're coming for you," Suki corrected.

They reached the edge of the colony when the stormtroopers closed in, and underneath the snow was all the earth Toph could want. "Well then, come and get me."

Toph threw both arms up to earthbend, making a wave of dirt and rock bust through the snow, forming a curved wall that hid her and Suki from view. The stormtroopers opened fire, their blasters set to stun, and the wide blue rings impacted the wall to no effect. Suki placed her palm against the wall, Toph opened a small hole there, and Suki focused her energy to fire back. She took a few shots, put her hand somewhere else, and when a new hole opened she fired again. Working together Toph let Suki fire blasts in several directions, taking down stormtroopers all around the wall.

One stormtrooper threw a thermal detonator at the wall, the small explosive blowing open a wide hole in the rock. The other stormtroopers fired at that hole, their stun shots converging on the space inside. But then they discovered that no one was there, and they saw soft dirt mixed with snow. Toph had brought Suki underground, only a few feet beneath the stormtroopers stepping where they had just been. The stormtroopers aimed their blasters at the ground, expecting their target to emerge at any moment.

Suddenly a stormtrooper sank into the ground, ending up chest deep before getting stuck. Another stormtrooper followed suit, and soon half a dozen of them were half buried. The rest realized what was going on and took steps backward, and they dropped a few thermal detonators onto the spots they had been standing. The thermal detonators sank into the softened ground and then exploded, throwing up a shower of debris and leaving craters behind. With the stormtroopers fired their blasters into the craters, the wide blue rings impacting loose dirt and soil.

Several feet away Toph emerged from the ground bruised and bloody, feeling like someone had swung a sledgehammer into her head. She was holding onto Suki's arm and pulling her out of the ground, both of them bleeding in various places. Suki had been knocked out in the blasts, leaving her body limp as Toph pulled her from the soft dirt. Toph raised her free fist to make a new wall, and then grabbed Suki with both hands to fully pull her out. While the wall delayed the stormtroopers Toph raised a mound of earth beneath her, and she sent it forward to carry her and Suki away.

The stormtroopers got around the wall, and now they had a clear line of sight to aim at a moving target. Most of their shots missed of course, but some of the blue rings struck Toph in the back. She collapsed face first and her mound of earth broke apart, launching both Toph and Suki forward to tumble across the ground. Toph came to a stop amidst the debris from the earth mound, while Suki kept on sliding until she hit a snow covered boulder. The stormtroopers closed in on their target, keeping the blasters aimed at Toph even though she was out cold.

One of them nudged Toph with his boot just to be sure, and then he got on the radio. "Target secure, ready for pickup."

Suki started to come to, just in time to see the stormtroopers take Toph away. "No…"

* * *

Watching experiments on the locals was amusing, from a certain point of view.

It seemed that they were just as in the dark about the nature of their powers as the imperials were, having honest blank stares when asked about where their bending comes from. Sure they had myths and legends dating back to time immemorial, but the actual origins had been long lost to history. They knew the rules that governed how to use their gifts, but not how they operated in a scientific sense. So when the experiments were conducted the locals were confused as well as traumatized, unable to comprehend what could be learned through their suffering.

At the moment a deposed ruler was being studied, though Thrawn hadn't bothered to remember what that ruler's name was. It was the one that could create lightning with his bare hands, a gift that could be useful in just about any scenario. Today's experiment involved using mechanisms to force his arms through the correct motions, to see if he could be forced into creating lightning. It didn't seem to be working, but even failed experiment revealed new insights. In this case it was clear that the motions alone weren't enough, that the user had to be willing in order for the powers to manifest.

After making eye contact with the deposed ruler, Thrawn turned away and walked to another part of the lab. Behind several feet of polycarbonate glass was one of the hydrokinetics, the scrawny one that survived the failed insurrection aboard the _Stalker_. Water was being pumped in through the ceiling, and the waterbender was keeping the flow at bay. Slowly and steadily the water pressure was increased, requiring more and more effort for the waterbender to hold it back. He was certainly motivated to work as hard as he could, and while he avoided drowning he provided valuable data about his limits.

When he got bored Thrawn walked to a comm station. "Bridge, patch me through to the admiral."

" _Acknowledged."_

A moment later Thrawn heard Admiral Ozzel's voice. _"Yes, what is it?"_

"We're moving up the timetable," Thrawn ordered. "Begin recruitment in every substantial settlement on the planet, except for the ones that have experienced attacks. Use volunteers first where you can, then suitable candidates that can be coerced with nonviolent methods."

" _Understood,"_ Ozzel said. _"I didn't realize we would be bringing the locals into the fold so soon."_

"A necessary precaution," Thrawn said. "Resistance fighters will think twice if some of their own are enlisted as stormtroopers."

" _Even if we continue to experiment on them?"_ Ozzel questioned.

"They do not need to know," Thrawn said. "Recruits can be trained aboard the _Devastator_. Captives will be moved to the _Tyrant_. The two never need to meet."

" _As you command,"_ Ozzel said. _"Today's transports will be rerouted."_

* * *

"Ugh… not this again…"

When Toph woke up she was feeling absolutely miserable, in just about every way she could think of. She was stuck inside a small metal box, which was inside a ship that might as well be another small metal box, and surely on her way to what she would call a larger metal box. The empty pit in her stomach had returned with a vengeance, somehow even worse than the first time she had gone up into space. Add to that the humiliation of being captured, and that she was trapped all alone, there wasn't much that could possibly make her feel even worse.

Toph knew the ship had landed when her view of the world suddenly expanded, discovering a hangar just like the one she had been in the last time. Stormtroopers unloaded the metal box and took it deeper into the Star Destroyer, and all Toph could do was sit there throughout the ride. She got a good look at the parts of the ship along the way, defeating the entire point of putting her in that metal box. Toph saw the labs and their captives within, subjected to all sorts of tests that she didn't want to think about.

She was released into a slightly larger chamber, one of its walls feeling like glass only far tougher. Toph also saw someone on the other side, a guy with metal parts embedded in his flesh and an eye that definitely wasn't human. "It's rude to stare mister Strange-Face."

"Riveting," Cylo muttered, carefully studying Toph's reactions. "You knew I was staring without looking at me. Your eyes appear to have cataracts, yet you carry yourself as someone with sight. Would I be wrong to assume that your other senses are heightened, likely from years of being blind?"

"Yeah, sure, let's go with that," Toph said.

Cylo tapped a few buttons on a control console. "I'm told that you possess power over earth. I'm curious to see exactly how much you can control."

A vent in the ceiling opened and started dumping sand into the chamber, slowly at first like the trickle inside an hourglass. The sand fell right on top of Toph's head, and after getting out of it she was shaking sand out of her hair. Already the sand on the floor was up to her shins, and in moments her knees were buried. Toph tried to stop the flow of sand by raising and clenching her fists, yet that simple move for earthbending accomplished absolutely nothing. While buried up to her waist Toph tried again, only for the flow of sand to continue onward.

At the push of a button the flow of sand increased, and Cylo waited for the girl to take control of it. She was buried up to her waist when she stopped attempting to earthbend, instead trying to dig herself out of the rising sand. Cylo was still waiting when the sand was up to Toph's shoulders, suspecting that she was stalling for some unfathomable reason. The sand was above Toph's head when Cylo thought differently, that the possibly existed that she couldn't use her abilities at this time. He couldn't see her when he pressed a different button, closing the ceiling vent and opening another in the floor.

It took a minute for all the sand to fall out, and Toph was left on her hands and knees gasping for air. "Get your sick jollies yet?"

Ignoring that remark Cylo used the console again, and a small screen showed footage recorded during Toph's capture. He watched the demonstration of earthbending, and then turned back to Toph. "I gave you an opportunity to fight, and you did not take it. Why is that?"

Toph didn't answer, instead just turning away from him.

However, the body language was enough for Cylo to make an educated guess. "You can't. Something is inhibiting your abilities, and you're ashamed to admit it."

Still, Toph refused to answer.

"Be that way," Cylo said. "We'll figure it out one way or another."

* * *

At the end of the day, Thrawn observed the first crop of new recruits.

That morning the recruitment call had been made across the planet, and several hundred locals had volunteered by evening. Most were from the Fire Nation and a few from the Earth Kingdom, none of them possessing any elemental abilities. All of them were from the lowest tiers of society, the kind of people that would rather serve in and benefit from a regime instead of remaining in their miserable lives. None were in ideal physical condition to be put to use any time soon, but that is what basic training was meant to correct.

Yet for a planet with nearly a billion inhabitants, getting mere hundreds of volunteers was very low turnout. The vast majority of locals were still distrustful of the Empire, and while that was to be expected the results of it were disappointing. It was going to take a lot more effort to bring substantial numbers of locals into the fold, especially if any resistance movements gained traction. These volunteers were being thoroughly examined for any signs of treachery, just in case any of them were here with ulterior motives.

The _Devastator_ was equipped with state of the art training facilities, and the first fifty recruits to come aboard were lined up at one end of a shooting range. Thrawn watched from an observation balcony above the range, looking down on the recruits from behind the security of a force field. Stormtroopers were positioned all around the recruits, holding the blasters that each recruit wanted to wield one day. In front of the recruits Admiral Ozzel was pacing back and forth, observing the recruits and looking each and every one of them in the eye.

Ozzel stopped in the middle, hands behind his back while he addressed the recruits. "The following weeks will not be easy for any of you. The Empire expects the best that every world has to offer, and our training regimen will ensure that only the best remain.

"Expect yourselves to be strained to the breaking point. This training will be tougher than anything you have ever experienced before. Weakness will not be tolerated. You will either be ready to serve in the stormtrooper ranks, or you will wash out and be sent back in disgrace.

"If you have any doubts that you belong here, back out now. If you were expecting a quick ride into imperial service, do not waste our time. If any of you do not meet our standards, we will not hesitate to remove you.

"Success will be greatly rewarded. The best of you will be excellent servants of the Empire."

Stormtroopers saluted at the end of the speech, invigorating the recruits and motivating them to go above and beyond their potential. Ozzel turned and walked away from the recruits, leaving them to the business of starting their training regimen. He joined Thrawn on the observation balcony, and from there he could watch the recruits get to work. Ozzel delegated the task of training to one of his lieutenants, filling the role of a typical drill sergeant. That lieutenant had his work cut out for him, as Ozzel was sure most of the recruits would not make the cut.

"This isn't going to turn out well," Ozzel said. He looked at Thrawn on his left. "None of them strike me as stormtrooper material."

Thrawn nodded. "They only need to be pawns."

"True enough," Ozzel said.

They spent some time watching the recruits, getting a basic understanding of how well they might perform. But that time was interrupted by an incoming transmission, which Thrawn answered. "Yes."

The voice of Cylo came through the transmission. _"Grand Admiral, I have a new experiment for our captives. It requires redeployment of the_ Tyrant _. Please instruct Captain Lennox to comply with the itinerary I have sent."_

"How long will you require the _Tyrant_ elsewhere?" Thrawn asked.

" _Only for a week,"_ Cylo said. _"I suspect visiting other planets will have an effect on the locals' abilities."_

* * *

Toph didn't like that rumble in the floor.

Admittedly it was a very slight rumble, so small that most people wouldn't notice it. Toph only noticed because she was desperately searching for anything of use, looking for even the smallest of things that might help. The slight rumble had a resonance that synched with her vibration sight, adding a new level of clarity to the things that she could see. Toph could see that the experiments on the other captives had ceased, giving a respite to the firebenders and waterbender nearby. But she didn't like how the rumble suddenly appeared, like some signal of something about to happen.

Then Toph noticed someone on the other side of the glass, recognizing the strange things embedded in his flesh. "Come back to stare, Strange-Face?"

Cylo didn't react to that remark, instead using a console to contact the bridge. "Take us out."

" _Acknowledged,"_ the bridge officer reported. _"Entering hyperspace in three… two… one…"_

The _Tyrant_ made the jump to hyperspace, and the effect was instantaneous. The waterbender and all the firebenders collapsed, most clutching their stomachs as if in physical pain. A few of them even passed out, falling face first into the floor. Sensors monitoring their health flashed red warning symbols, recording the symptoms they were experiencing. A few firebenders seemed to recognize the sensation, though not quite this bad. One dared to throw a punch to firebend, only to be horrified when nothing happened.

And yet Toph was not affected, and she had a good idea why. She had already gone through losing her bending, and she couldn't lose what she didn't have. Toph didn't know what the imperials had just done, but it severed the connection to the sun and the moon. She noticed the smirk on Cylo's face, certain that he would eventually figure out what was going on. Cylo compared the reaction here to what Toph had experienced, noting the similarities and looking for a common cause. He recorded the results of this experiment, and made adjustments for future experiments.

"Intriguing," Cylo said, continuing to examine the data. "Supernatural abilities fueled by external power sources. We will have to see how you all respond to different environments."

"Can't wait," Toph grumbled.

She was going to have to wait anyway, just as might as Cylo would have to wait. The _Tyrant_ would not arrive at its destination for another few hours, heading well into imperial territory for further experimentation. Cylo left the lab to deal with business elsewhere, leaving the other researchers to their own devices. Toph was left alone with her thoughts, having nothing in there to occupy her time. Toph managed to get comfortable enough to take a nap, though she couldn't tell exactly how long she slept.

When she woke up Toph noticed something different, particularly someone else now sitting in the same chamber. "Huh… when did they get you?"

Bruised, beaten, and certainly broken, was Long Feng. His once formal robes were reduced to tatters, barely concealing the worst of the beating he had taken. His face had plenty of bruises and a black eye, and Toph could see a substantial amount of internal bleeding elsewhere. Toph could only imagine what Long Feng had gone through, and certainly didn't want to know the details. Long Feng didn't acknowledge Toph at first, wanting to be alone in his shame. But since neither come them could leave, Long Feng eventually had to humor Toph.

"Ba Sing Se," Long Feng muttered. "That's where they got me, after their forces wiped out mine. They brought me up here, took my bending away, and tortured me for information and amusement."

"They didn't take your bending, intentionally anyway," Toph said. "It will return when we are back on the ground. Believe me. I've gone through this twice now."

That didn't cheer up Long Feng, and he looked away from Toph. "It doesn't matter. Bending isn't enough to beat these invaders. We used every technique we had, and we still failed."

Toph leaned back against the wall. "So it's all over then, right?"

"Might as well be," Long Feng said. "Do you see a way to beat them? I don't."

Toph didn't have an answer to that, or at least not one that Long Feng would accept. "Something will turn up. It always does."

"Naïve," Long Feng muttered. "It's already over, you just haven't admitted it."

Given where they were, and what they had been through, Toph couldn't say anything to that.

* * *

Recovering under the care of a generous old farm couple, Suki was sitting in a chair and looking up at the night sky, wondering where Toph was now. "If anyone can escape them, it better be you."


	17. Double Sunburn

Chapter 17: Double Sunburn

Echo Base was up and running months ahead of schedule, already servicing rebel ships in between missions. Already the rebels achieved several small victories over the Empire, raiding imperial convoys and transports along the Outer Rim. Substantial losses in the area hampered the Empire's plans for expansion, and considerably increased the rebels' supply cache. Covert operations deeper in imperial territory were in full operation, gathering vital intelligence for the rebels to act on later. As a whole the rebels were better than ever, finally getting the momentum they would need for the long haul.

There was still a long road ahead, even with the new base on Hoth. The Empire still held far greater territory and resources, leaving them the option of simply grinding the rebels into dust through attrition. They were going to need more people and resources to have a lasting effect, and the only way to get them was from outside support. There were other groups in the galaxy that didn't work with the Empire, potentially willing to help the rebels bring it down. Sure they were the undesirable citizens of the galaxy, but Leia was willing to take what she could get.

"And you're sending me… why?"

Sokka was more confused than anything else, currently meeting with Leia in a conference room. Leia was sitting with her elbows on the table and her hands folded. "Everyone else is busy. There's a short window of opportunity to get you in. And it's about time you got some field experience."

"Good to know you're desperate," Sokka noted. "What about Katara? Isn't she around?"

"Just sent her off world," Leia answered. "She has own mission, and you have yours."

Sokka sighed. "So when do I leave?"

"Immediately," Leia answered.

A few minutes later Sokka was in the hangar, looking at the ship he would have to board. It was a small saucer shaped ship fifty feet long, its hull a dark gray and beaten up in places. "What a piece of junk."

"That is the point."

Despite having seen this person around the base from time to time, Sokka still felt uncomfortable around that golden mechanical man. C-3PO may have been a pleasant fellow and polite all the time, but it took forever for Sokka to wrap his brain around the idea of a protocol droid. The concept of building an artificial person was so far beyond Sokka's imagination it was unbelievable, yet to everyone here C-3PO was a rather mundane aspect of life. And it seemed that C-3PO was going with Sokka, judging by his presence just outside this small spaceship.

"We are heading to one of the galaxy's many backwater planets," C-3PO continued. "It is expected that our vessel look like it was pulled out of the scrapheap."

"So who's flying this thing?" Sokka asked. "I have kind of a poor record with spaceships."

"We've got an astromech for that," C-3PO answered. "Believe me, R2 is nearly as good as any organic pilot out there."

"I'll take your word for it," Sokka said.

Inside the ship the little astromech droid R2-D2 was waiting for them, and Sokka remembered it from when Luke rescued him in space. It still reminded him of a trash can, but knew better than to say it out loud. R2 made a series of beeps, something Sokka still didn't understand as a viable language, but C-3PO responded like it was normal. C-3PO told R2 that they were good to go, and the little droid plugged into the pilot's console for direct control. Sokka sat down in the copilot's seat, and C-3PO stood in the space behind the seats.

The ship's engines came to life and the hangar doors opened, and in minutes the ship was soaring through the sky and heading out into space. The deep blue sky faded away into the black void, and the stars quickly came into view. R2 turned the ship to the right constellation, engaged the hyperdrive, and the stars turned into streaks and were replaced by the blue void of hyperspace. In that instant Sokka felt his still newfound waterbending fade away, but was grateful to be spared from the suffering that Katara endured every time.

When looking at the void became boring Sokka tipped his seat back, closing his eyes to take a little nap. But his thoughts remained on the loss of waterbending, a power that seemed ever fleeting to him. Yet he was okay with it, having grown up without waterbending, and certain that he would die without it. Unlike his sister waterbending wasn't an essential part of his person, just something extra that could be lost as easily as it had appeared. He wasn't very good at it anyway, even with Katara giving lessons whenever they both had free time.

Eventually Sokka fell asleep, and he woke up just in time to see the blue void change back into stars. "Hey, are we there yet?"

R2 beeped a few times, and C-3PO was there to translate. "Yes, we are at Tatooine."

Although the planet was directly ahead of the ship, Sokka couldn't see it at first. It was lost in the glare of two suns to the right, one slightly bigger and farther away than the other. After the ship flew past the suns Sokka got his first view of the planet, and it looked like an even harsher world than the one he just left. The entire thing was various shades of brown, a planet covered in deserts greater than any on Earth. Sokka spotted a couple of moons orbiting this planet, but whatever waterbending they could provide would not matter on a world seemingly devoid of water.

"So this is the armpit of the galaxy," Sokka said, leaning forward in his seat for a better look through the windshield. "I would have thought crime lords would pick some place more hospitable than this."

"The Empire claims all of the better planets," C-3PO said. "Imperials only come out to places like this when there's something they want. Since we don't have secret battle station plans, we should be fine."

"Okay," Sokka said, not wanting to know the story behind that. He got up and headed for the back of the ship. "I'm going to get ready. Please tell me when we're about to land."

"Okay," C-3PO said.

There was a change of clothes for Sokka to use, a light brown outfit meant to deal with the desert heat. Once he had that on he attached his space sword to his waist, and then strapped his space shield to his back. Sokka hesitated to grab the blaster on loan from the rebels, hoping that he wouldn't have to use it. Sure the rebels had given him shooting lessons at a firing range, but he was nowhere near good enough at it yet to be of use in a firefight. Still he strapped the blaster in its holster to his waist, opposite side from his space sword.

By then there was a gradual shift in the gravity, followed by C-3PO's voice. "We're almost there."

Sokka hurried back to the cockpit and sat down. "Okay, let's land."

Although there was a ramshackle city in plain view, the landing site wasn't in that particular spaceport. Instead the ship was heading for a plateau a few miles away, casting a long shadow on the desert sands below. The ship landed near the plateau's southern edge, facing the center where they would be meeting their contact. After the landing Sokka was the first to exit the ship, shortly followed by C-3PO while R2 stayed in the ship. Sokka had to shield his eyes at first, needing a moment to adjust to the light from two suns.

When he looked at the landscape Sokka was reminded of the Si Wong Desert, except that this desert was several orders of magnitude bigger. "Hey, should I not be expecting to see giant worms out there?"

"Those aren't on this planet," C-3PO said. He faced the center of plateau, spotting someone approaching from the opposite side. "That would be our contact now."

Sokka hadn't been sure of what to expect, but it wasn't what he saw now. Instead of someone looking like a human or close approximate, it was a group of short folk in brown robes that concealed most of their physical features. Only the little yellow eyes could be seen underneath their hoods, making it next to impossible to read any expressions they might have. They were speaking to each other in a strange language, one that Sokka had no hope of ever understanding. Fortunately C-3PO could understand the Jawas perfectly, and employed his services as a translator.

The lead Jawa said something, and C-3PO translated. "Good, you are early. We can head out now."

"Don't you even want our names?" Sokka asked.

The Jawa shook his head, and again C-3PO translated what he said. "We're just the intermediaries. Our client will want to speak with you personally. And he is not far from here."

"Fine, let's go," Sokka said, though making sure the Jawas saw the blaster on his hip. "Just don't try any funny business while we're here."

"Like sell me off for parts," C-3PO said.

The Jawa didn't respond to that remark, instead gesturing for Sokka and C-3PO to follow. They walked across the plateau to the far side, climbed down a set of stairs carved out of the side, and reached the desert sands at the bottom. Waiting for them was a vehicle resembling a brown metal box on wheels, well over a hundred feet long and just as tall. C-3PO hesitated to follow the Jawas inside, remembering the last time he had been inside one of these sandcrawlers. This time he got to ride in the top front compartment of the sandcrawler, right next to the Jawas controlling the big machine.

The sandcrawler took them away from the plateau and toward the ramshackle city, slowly making its way across the desert. To pass the time C-3PO told Sokka all about the Jawas, how they were scavengers that repurposed and sold whatever tech they could get their hands on. Fortunately there was plenty of scrap machinery to go around on Tatooine these days, evidence being the completely full cargo hold in the sandcrawler. The ride was over sooner than C-3PO expected, since the sandcrawler stopped before the ramshackle city instead of reaching it.

When the Jawas led Sokka and C-3PO outside it seemed like they were in the middle of nowhere, nothing but sand dunes surrounding them. The illusion was dispelled when a large patch of sand began to drain into a hole, revealing the entrance to a hidden cave in the bedrock beneath the desert. The Jawas entered the cave first, and little lights inside came to life. Sokka and C-3PO followed into the cave, and a false cover moved back into place to conceal the cave again. There was no going back now, only forward to completing the mission.

At the far end of the cave was a larger chamber, filled with several different kinds of aliens lounging about. The only one that mattered was sitting in the far back, the leader of this small band of criminals. About the same height as Sokka, but with three times the girth, was a slug-like alien with itty bitty arms and rather large eyes. This alien spoke with slow grunts that barely resembled words, yet another language that Sokka couldn't understand. Fortunately there was a protocol droid standing next to the alien, providing a translation for his owner's guests.

"The soon to be great Rotta the Hutt welcomes agents of the rebellion," the droid translated. "He hopes that it will be the beginning of a mutually beneficial partnership."

"We hope that too," Sokka said. He stood in front of Rotta the Hutt, having C-3PO stand beside him and translating into the alien's language. "I understand this will start with something simple, a favor for a favor. And then we will see where this goes from there."

Rotta nodded, spoke some more, and the droid translated. "Someone new is interfering with Rotta's efforts to rebuild his father's organization. He wants you to investigate this new faction."

"Where could we find it?" Sokka asked.

Rotta laughed before answering. "Where else? Mos Eisley. That's where this problem began. Upon arrival the newcomer killed many of my people, and then started taking over what was left intact."

Sokka nodded. "Is there anything else I should know before seeking this person out?"

"Only rumor and speculation escape the spaceport now." Rotta signaled his protocol droid, and it walked over to Sokka while still translating. "We need new information first and foremost. Take this communicator. Use it to report back what you discover. And if you find an opportunity to eliminate the new threat, do not hesitate to take it."

C-3PO took the communicator from the protocol droid, storing it in his hip for later use. "We appreciate the courtesy. And we will be on our way now."

Their business settled here for now, Sokka and C-3PO left Rotta's cave and returned to the surface of the desert. The Jawas accompanied them back to their sandcrawler, and soon the big machine was moving again. This time the sandcrawler took them the rest of the way to the ramshackle city, the spaceport of Mos Eisley. The sandcrawler stopped at the edge of the city, its usual spot for selling off the tech salvaged by the Jawas. There Sokka and C-3PO left the Jawas behind, entering the city and starting their search.

Mos Eisley was filled with just about every kind of alien one could imagine, and a few that Sokka couldn't even conceive of. He couldn't help but try to look at each and every one of them, being ever curious about what they might be. The aliens in turn didn't even notice Sokka, as he was just another person stuck on this craphole of a planet. There were also plenty of other things to draw their attention, like the various muggings in every other alley. Everywhere they went Sokka could see some form of violence, and tried to keep his distance as much as possible.

"Ah, this spot will do," C-3PO said. He pointed to a cantina up ahead. "I am told such places are where everyone looks for useful information."

"Sure, why not," Sokka said, not having a better idea. "We might as well get a drink while we're here."

Getting that drink wouldn't be easy.

Someone, somewhere, slugged someone in some specifically sensitive spot. That person punched right back, hitting in another equally sensitive area. In turn the aggressor drew his blaster and shot the guy, killing him and leaving a body dead in the street. Several other people heard the shot and drew their own blasters, promptly shooting the aggressor from multiple directions. Even more people heard the shots and assumed they were under attack, shooting at everyone they saw holding a blaster in their general direction.

Things escalated from there.

Sokka had just gotten inside the cantina when it started, and he ducked under a table while blaster bolts crisscrossed overhead. "Come on! We just got here!"

C-3PO had tried to get down as well, tripped in the process, and fell to the floor face first next to Sokka. "Oh dear. This place sure had gotten a lot more violent."

Fortunately the shootout did not last long. Everyone not shooting was taking cover somewhere, and everyone shooting was out in the open. When the shooting stopped a few dozen bodies were scattered around, most outside the cantina and several inside. Only one shooter was still standing at the end, a wookie who now had a few blaster wounds in one arm. Said wookie put away his blaster and walked away, apparently to go find medical attention somewhere. Afterward everyone else was emerging from cover, with a calm demeanor that suggested this kind of thing was all too common these days.

"Okay…" Sokka muttered, getting up and seeing the cantina considerably emptier now. "So glad we didn't get mixed up in that."

A bartender saw him over there, looking more annoyed than anything. "Hey kid, help clean up the mess and your first drink is on the house."

Sokka eyed the bodies on the floor, still warm to the touch and certainly disturbing to think about. "Where do you want them all?"

"Out the back," the bartender answered, pointing a thumb at a door. "Your droid can stay if it helps."

It took a few minutes to haul the bodies out of the cantina, and Sokka did not like it when he saw the spot labeled 'corpse pickup' outside. A few other cantina patrons helped out, if only to get that free first drink. When the work was done Sokka took a seat at the bar, and C-3PO stood next to him and leaned against another chair. The bartender handed out a glass of something Sokka assumed was liquor, the only thing he could tell for certain was that the drink was green. He was just about to grab the glass when someone took the seat next to him, leaning on the bar and looking right at Sokka.

"Is there something on my face?" Sokka asked.

"You're not from around here," the stranger said. He looked like a regular human, slightly taller than Sokka and wearing brown desert robes. "That's an interesting loadout you've got there."

Sokka fingered the hilt of his space sword, and eyed the blaster the stranger had holstered. "Alright, I'll bite. What do you want?"

The stranger smiled, showing off semi-rotten teeth. "The last strange newcomer really shook things up around here. I'm just wondering if it's going to happen again."

"Don't bet on it," Sokka said. He picked up the glass and sloshed the drink a little. "I'm still trying to figure out what's going on. I'm told it's been chaos since a crime lord died, but I'm missing specifics."

"Ah yes, Jabba's death was most unexpected," the stranger said. "All the smaller bosses are carving out pieces of that pie. They are always looking for new muscle, and I happen to know one boss personally."

Sokka gulped down his drink in one swig, feeling his throat burn on the way down. "Sure, why not?"

"This won't go well…" C-3PO grumbled.

They only made it a few blocks from the cantina when C-3PO was proven right. A handful of people crossed their path, running as quickly as their legs could take them away from danger. The stranger looked in the direction those people were running from, and he saw the reason why. Several dozen tusken raiders were charging into Mos Eisley, slaughtering any and all civilians that happened to be in their way. The raiders were using spears and daggers on their rampage, and one threw a spear right through the stranger's face.

"Oh come on!" Sokka said, backing away from the stranger's corpse. He took out his space shield in time to block another thrown spear. "We just met the guy!"

With his free hand Sokka drew his blaster, took a few shots with it, and then tossed it to C-3PO. Sokka drew his space sword and got to work, slashing at the raiders while blocking with his shield. Meanwhile C-3PO fumbled with the blaster, his digits not being designed for handling weapons. Sokka had cut down a few raiders by the time C-3PO started shooting, aiming for raiders coming at him instead of Sokka. Other people in adjacent streets were shooting at the raiders too, and didn't seem to care if anyone else happened to be in the firing line.

"Where'd these guys come from?" Sokka asked, in the middle of cutting down another raider.

"Tusken raiders, aka sand people," C-3PO answered. He was having trouble finding his mark, missing every other shot he made. "They usually aren't so bold as to attack a city like this."

By now a few dozen raiders had fallen to sword strikes or blaster fire, and several dozen bystanders had died at their hands. The raiders made one last push to kill more people, slew a few more bystanders, and had a few more of their own fall to the space sword. By then a large group of mercenaries arrived to deal with them, shooting at the raiders with lethal precision. Half of the raiders remained when they retreated, and a dozen more fell before they got out of the city. The streets were littered with bodies when it was over, and some of the survivors did inappropriate things to the tusken raider corpses.

Sokka put his sword and shield away, and then took the blaster from C-3PO and put it away as well. "Is anyone else going to get in the way today?"

The mercenaries that drove off the raiders walked up to Sokka and C-3PO, taking an interest in someone that survived the attack. "That's quite the swordplay you have. I think you should come with us."

"I was kidding!" Sokka complained.

Not in a position to argue with the mercenaries, Sokka let them lead him and C-3PO away from the area. The mercenaries brought them deeper into Mos Eisley, heading toward the spaceport near the other end of the city. Along the way Sokka noticed a more militant demeanor among the populace, particularly around the most fortified buildings around the spaceport. Sokka figured that these mercenaries worked for the person Rotta told him to investigate, and hopefully this would be a chance to see that person up close.

"I hope you have a plan," C-3PO asked.

"I'm kind of winging it here," Sokka admitted. He saw the entrance to the spaceport up ahead, doors opening to let the mercenaries through. "Besides, I think these guys don't want to hurt us."

As they entered the spaceport they heard some screams, along with curse words only C-3PO understood. "You might want to rethink that."

Inside the spaceport they were brought to one of the landing areas, which appeared to have been converted into an arena of sorts. The circular space meant for parked ships had a tall throne placed in the center, surrounded by people and aliens standing in formation like an army. Cages were lined up along one side, half filled with prisoners that had refused to obey the new authority in town. In between there was an audience blocking part of the view, but not the screams of someone desperately pleading for mercy.

"Wait here," one mercenary ordered.

"Kay," Sokka said, perfectly willing to stay away from whatever was going on.

A few of the mercenaries walked through the crowd, reaching the person in charge on the other side. Sokka couldn't see what was going on over there, but could assume that the mercenaries were telling their boss what had happened with the raiders. While he waited Sokka looked around the place, not liking the piles of charred corpses scattered about. C-3PO wasn't quite as bothered by it, until he saw the remains of droids half melted into slag. After a few minutes the mercenaries came back, and they seemed to be in a good mood.

"The boss will see you now," the mercenary said.

Sokka and C-3PO made their way toward the boss, reaching the crowd and passing through it. Along the way some poor shmuck in a cage made a ruckus, getting the attention of the boss in the process. Sokka happened to be looking in the shmuck's direction when he got through the crowd, right before an incredibly bright light blinded him. His eyes adjusted in a few seconds, and he could no longer see the shmuck or the cage. They had been consumed by a gigantic plume of flame, one that was a very familiar shade of blue.

All other eyes were on the boss, and Sokka's jaw dropped when he saw her. "Azula?"

Hearing a familiar voice where it couldn't possibly be, Azula was equally dumbfounded. "Sokka?"

They stared at each other, and they had the same question. "How did you get here?"

This was not the place to answer that, not with so many prying eyes and ears. Azula got down from her public throne, and gestured for Sokka to follow. "Come on, quickly."

Along the way C-3PO tagged along behind them, understandably confused over the relationship these two had. "You know this woman?"

"She's from Earth," Sokka said, following Azula to a door. "No idea how she got out here."

"Quiet," Azula said. She brought them into another part of the former spaceport, into a room that used to be an office. "Okay, we can talk here."

Sokka closed the door once all three of them were inside. He then looked at Azula, noticing the fancier desert clothes she was wearing. "I'm assuming there's a story behind this?"

"There is," Azula said, sitting at a table and gesturing to another chair. "You might want to sit down."

Sokka did exactly that. "Let's hear it."

"Well after we failed to defend Ba Sing Se, the imperials captured me," Azula said, remembering those days vividly. "They put me on a ship and sent me into space. I got sick when they went to lightspeed, so they stopped to turn around. My bending came back better than before, so I disposed of the crew and took the ship for myself."

"Wait, your bending was better?" Sokka questioned. Then he remembered the big plume of blue fire he saw earlier. "Right… different suns would affect firebending."

"So there I was stranded in space," Azula continued. "Some pirates showed up, no doubt thinking they had found an easy score, and hijacked the ship. They thought they were taking me prisoner, and brought me here to sell as a slave. I disposed of them when we got here, and I've been steadily taking over this place one band of mercs at a time."

"Impressive," Sokka said, folding his hands. "How have you been convincing people here to obey you? I doubt that firebending, even enhanced firebending, would scare everyone."

"There's a superstition here that I've been taking advantage of," Azula answered. "When I use my lightning, they say I'm a Sith Lord. Granted, I have no idea what a Sith is, but it terrifies these people. That's good enough for me."

"And it seems to be working out for you," Sokka said. He glanced at C-3PO, and was reminding of why he was here. "You know, this is kind of awkward."

"Why is that?" Azula asked.

"We are on a mission," C-3PO said. "If I understand your relationship correctly, there is a conflict of interest. It may prove difficult to proceed."

"Mission's over," Sokka said, and he looked back at Azula. "I'd rather deal with someone I know than that slimeball anyway."

"I'm touched," Azula said. "Say… does your mission involve annihilating the invaders that took our home away? Because that's what I was planning to do with these mercs once I have enough of them."

"More or less," Sokka answered. He pointed a thumb over his shoulder at C-3PO. "This guy works for a rebellion against the empire. We were supposed to go back with support from organized crime."

"Just give me a few more months," Azula said. She leaned back and crossed her arms behind her head. "I'll be running this town by then."

"Sounds good to me," Sokka said. "That just leaves one thing left to take care of."

* * *

Rotta the Hutt was pleasantly surprised.

It hadn't even been a day since the first meeting with the rebel envoy, and already they were coming back to his little lair. Rotta eagerly awaited their report, wanting to know what information they had gathered on his newest rival. His protocol droid announced their arrival, and then the human and the droid entered his main chamber. There was a happy demeanor around the young human, a promising sign that he had found out something very important. Rotta made his greetings, and his protocol droid translated for him.

"Welcome back," the droid translated. "Rotta the Hutt hopes that you come with good news."

Sokka smirked. "Well… that depends on your point of view."

He stepped out of the way, as did C-3PO, and let Azula step into the light. "Goodbye."

One punch was all Azula needed. Her first spawned a gigantic plume of blue fire, enough to fill most of the chamber with the inferno. Rotta was in the center of it all, and he simply ceased to be. The aliens in the chamber with him were consumed by flame, reduced to nothing more than ashes. The droids and other machinery present were melted into slag, only barely recognizable as the remains of once sophisticated technology. The walls of the chamber were scorched black, and everything that remained inside was coated in soot.

The inferno was gone as quick as it appeared, and Azula blew smoke off her knuckles. "I'm still getting used to making so much fire."

A lot of the oxygen had been consumed, leaving Sokka with some trouble breathing. "I thought we were just going to scare him off, not incinerate the guy."

"You wanted him to disappear," Azula said. She pointed at the blackest scorch mark. "He disappeared."

Sokka groaned and shook his head. "Let's go before the stink sets in."

Staring at the scorch marks, C-3PO hesitated to leave with the two humans. "Oh dear… what have I gotten mixed up in this time."

Ignoring that remark, Azula walked beside Sokka as they headed out of the cave. There was a nagging question that she wanted to ask. "Sokka, did anyone else get launched into space? I have no idea what's been going on back home since I left."

"Katara is on some other planet right now," Sokka said. "I don't know about anyone else. We've been cut off from Earth too."

"Why didn't you bring your sister?" Azula asked.

"She has her own mission right now," C-3PO answered.

"The boss lady wouldn't tell me what it is," Sokka said. "Who knows what she's doing now."

 _A/N: R.I.P. Carrie Fisher. May the Force be with you._


	18. Sink or Swim

Chapter 18: Sink or Swim

"Ugh… I am never going to get used to this."

Katara was having another hard time inside a space ship, currently passing through hyperspace toward a distant destination. This time she was riding in this small cylindrical shaped ship, barely twenty meters long and a quarter of that wide. Currently leaning over in the ship's bathroom, Katara had thrown up for the third time during this trip. She felt the urge to throw up again, but nothing came up this time. Convinced that she had nothing left in her stomach, Katara flushed the toilet and made her way back to the other end of his cramped little ship.

She got to the cockpit and had to lean on a wall for support, feeling even worse than the last time she had been in hyperspace. Fortunately the copilot's seat was empty, and Katara quickly sat down and tried to rest. In the pilot's seat next to her Luke was flying the ship, keeping a steady course through the hyperspace jump. Katara looked past him and through the windshield, seeing the blue void that seemed to go on forever. She couldn't wait for the trip to be over, wanting the sickness to be gone as soon as possible.

Luke looked to his right and saw Katara there, more than a little concerned about her health. "How are you holding up?"

"Lousy," Katara answered. "I swear it's even worse than I remember."

"At least it's only temporary," Luke said.

"Are we almost there?" Katara asked.

"Just another half hour," Luke answered. "I'll make sure to fly in normal space for a while, let you recover before we get to work."

"Can't wait," Katara mused.

Half an hour later the ship emerged from hyperspace, returning to the black void of normal space. Katara felt better upon arrival, sensing the presence of new moons to draw power from. Not only was her waterbending back, it felt even stronger than it did on Hoth. She could see the moons from here, three of them orbiting one planet at varying distances. Katara wondered what they would look like from the planet's surface, imagining a night that could be as bright as day. As the ship continued forward Katara got a better look at the planet, even if the view was a poor one.

The planet itself mostly obscured by cloud cover, much of it taking the form of storms that battered the surface below. Katara spotted three hurricanes on this hemisphere alone, far larger and far more powerful than any hurricane back home. Breaks in the clouds revealed expansive oceans below, putting the oceans of Earth to shame. It seemed like the entire planet was covered by water, for there was no sign of land anywhere Katara could see. The ship was heading for the planet's night side, passing by all three full moons along the way.

"Are you up for this?" Luke asked.

Katara took a deep breath, and she was feeling fantastic when she let it out. "Let's do this."

The ship flew into the planet's atmosphere, heading straight into a thick storm somewhere over the northern hemisphere. Intense winds and thick rain battered the ship during its descent, becoming more intense with decreasing altitude. After passing through the clouds they could see the ocean below, stretching to the horizon in every direction. Lightning strikes lit up the sky and the sea, but they were far enough away to not threaten the ship. Soon the water filled up the entire view, as the ship was descending at a very steep angle.

Katara stood up and started moving her arms to control the water, and the sea opened up like a giant mouth to swallow the ship whole. Once beneath the surface the water closed behind the ship, with only another set of waves to mark their passing. A large bubble of air surrounded the ship as it dived deeper into the ocean, not a single drop of water splashing on the hull. The ship leveled off its flight a few hundred meters beneath the surface, and it started moving toward the southeast. Small fish fell into the bubble and hit the ship, most falling off to drop back into the water.

It was a little disorienting to see water ahead and above, depriving Luke of the usual ways to determine altitude and orientation. "This is weirder than I imagined."

"We turned a spaceship into a submarine," Katara reasoned. "That's got to be weird for everybody."

"Weird for the ship too," Luke said. He noticed that the sensor readouts had gone all screwy, the altimeter in particular constantly switching between positive and negative numbers. "It can't tell if we're above or below sea level."

"That sounds like a problem," Katara said.

"I can handle it," Luke assured, trusting his natural skills as a pilot. "Just need to be careful."

The ship continued on its merry way under the sea, ignoring the ocean currents flowing around the air bubble. Although the sensors were unreliable here, Luke still kept the ship on a straight and steady course. He trusted his instincts and they guided him well, avoiding underwater mountains that nearly reached the surface. Luke kept the ship's speed down to a slow pace, not wanting to go beyond Katara's ability to maintain the bubble. They were making good time regardless, and it would not be much longer before reaching their target.

Along the way they could see the remnants of an ancient civilization, lost to the steady rise of water several millennia ago. One could see the gradual change in infrastructure to handle rising seas, the higher elevations having sturdier structures than the bottom ruins. Now various sea creatures had taken over the long lost cities, living in the same places people had once inhabited. Beyond the ruins were massive support structures for a modern civilization on the ocean surface, keeping most of the buildings above at the elevation of high tide.

"Well we made it this far," Luke said, bringing the ship to a stop. "The trick seems to be working."

"You're sure they won't notice a big air bubble underwater," Katara said.

"The Kamino detection grid works by sending a pulse through the water," Luke explained. "Our bubble won't reflect the pulse back, so they won't detect anything in it."

"What if you're wrong?" Katara asked.

"Then we'd show up as a blob of static," Luke answered. "They won't know what to make of it until it's far too late to stop us."

"Okay then," Katara said. "Let's get the next part done."

After a few more minutes Luke glanced at Katara again. "How are you holding up?"

"I could do this all day," Katara said. By now she had gotten a good rhythm going, constantly moving her arms to maintain the bubble. "Not that I want to."

"We'll try to be quick," Luke promised. He turned back to the controls and got to work. "Heading back up now, just keep the bubble together."

The ship started its ascent back up toward the surface, slowly getting closer to the civilization floating up there. Luke kept the ship close to one of the supports, remaining directly under a thick disc-shaped structure resting on a platform at the top. Along the way Luke shut off the ship's headlights, nearly putting everything in pitch black darkness. Dim lighting from the surface filtered through the water, enough for Luke to judge just how far the ship was from the surface. Soon the ship entered a large shadow from one of the platforms, and Luke brought the ship to a stop again.

"We should only be a few meters down," Luke said. He looked at Katara again. "You're absolutely certain about what your powers can do here. It still seems like a colossal violation of thermodynamics."

Katara quickly pointed out the obvious. "You've seen me do this before."

"In a frozen wasteland," Luke said. "We're in a warm ocean now."

"Just tell me when to do it," Katara said.

"Okay," Luke said. He brought the ship up a little bit higher, and the air bubble made contact with the floating platform. "Do it."

Katara changed her arm motions to bend the water differently, forcing the water around the bubble to freeze solid. A shell of ice formed and stuck to the bottom of the platform, over twenty feet thick and completely sealed. The ice kept the air contained around the ship, allowing Katara to finally rest her arms after continuously bending for so long. The ship rose up slightly higher and extended a docking clamp from the top, making contact with an airlock hatch sticking out from the bottom of the platform and docking the ship there, putting a ship where a submarine was meant to dock.

Once finished docking Luke shut off the ship's engines, letting the ship hang like a really weird stalactite. Afterward Luke got to the ship's dorsal hatch and opened it, seeing the platform's airlock on the other side. It was locked of course, for obvious reasons, though Luke still tried to open it anyway. When that failed Luke took out his lightsaber and activated it, and he stabbed the bright blue blade into the airlock hatch. The lightsaber cut through the metal with ease and hot slag dribbled into the ship, and Luke took care not to get burned as he cut a wide circle into the hatch.

When Luke finished a circular chunk of metal fell into the ship, and the way was open into the airlock. "Alright, in and out before we're noticed."

Katara put a ladder into place so they could climb through the hatch, with Luke going up first to clear the way. The airlock was built at a forty-five degree angle, and the far end was several feet higher up. That end of the airlock wasn't locked, and Luke had it open in short order. On the other side there was a large white hallway, so shiny and clean that it seemed unnatural. It was also empty at the moment, though still brightly lit despite the waste. Once both of them were in the hallway Luke closed the airlock, making it look like the inner hatch had not been opened in the first place.

"It should be this way," Luke said, pointing in one direction. "Come on."

Luke led the way through this place, using a schematic kept on a data pad and comparing to signs on the walls. Their point of entry had bypassed all the external defenses, so all they had to worry about was being spotted inside. Every so often they had to duck into a side passage, avoiding others in this place that happened to be walking by. At one point they heard a large group approaching and hid from them, and they had to wait for a group of aliens to pass. Katara sneaked a peak at the aliens passing by, curiosity getting the better of her.

The aliens she saw were roughly humanoid in shape, but with stretched out limbs and necks that made then ten feet tall. Yet their arms and legs were thinner than the norm, and Katara wondered how it was possible for them to stand. It was off putting to see entirely white skin, along with the bald heads and weirdly shaped faces. They seemed to take care to where they stepped, keeping the pace slow to avoid any unnecessary falls. The aliens didn't notice anything and they kept on walking, and once they were gone it was safe to continue.

"What were those things?" Katara whispered.

"Kaminoans," Luke whispered back. He took them down another side passage. "They rarely leave their homeworld, and they do all kinds of genetic work for the Empire here. Not so much cloning anymore, more specialty stuff these days."

"Yeah, that went over my head," Katara said.

"Doesn't matter," Luke said. He was about to say more, but they had found their destination. "In here."

Thick metal doors marked the entrance to a special room, and the doors slid into the walls when Luke used a control panel. He paused when he realized it hadn't been locked, but figured the kaminoans never expected intruders to get this far into their complex. Inside the room was a large server, along with a computer terminal to access the data stored here. Luke accessed the terminal and tried to get into the data, but was immediately stopped by the need for an encrypted password. He had expected that to happen, and so he reached into his pocket and took out a small square disk.

"What's that thing?" Katara asked.

"Transfer drive," Luke answered. He plugged it into a slot on the terminal, and it automatically started downloading the data on this server's hard drive. "We'll take the info now, decrypt it back at base, analyze it later."

"How long will it take?" Katara asked.

"Not sure," Luke admitted. "It depends on how much data there is on this thing…" A red light started blinking on the terminal. "…or when they discover we are in the system."

An alarm went off throughout the complex, accompanied by flashing red lights in the hallways. Katara was already bending some water, expecting that she would need it real soon. "I think we need to go."

"Not until this is done," Luke insisted. "Without the data this mission is pointless."

"Well we can't stay here," Katara said.

"True," Luke said. He drew a blaster and faced the open doorway. "So we cause a ruckus until the drive is done. Then we pull it and get out of here."

They hurried out of the room and Luke closed the door, just so it wouldn't be that obvious they had been here. From there they hurried to the end of the hall, where they found a stormtrooper security force responding to the alarm. Those stormtroopers opened fire on the intruders, and Luke fired back while ducking back behind the corner. Katara made some ice spikes and flung them around the corner, impaling a pair of stormtroopers right in the chest. None of the stormtroopers' shots were getting to them here, but that would change if the battle went on long enough.

Luke faked a painful scream and fell back, and then signaled for Katara to pause the attack. Stormtroopers rushed in for the kill, coming around the corner right when Luke turned on his lightsaber. Two stormtroopers ran right into the blade that suddenly appeared, and they fell to the floor in four halves. The next two were impaled by larger ice spikes from Katara, and promptly flung into the far wall and pinned to it. The following two stopped just before falling into the trap, and Luke shot them at near point blank range.

A few stormtroopers were left, and Luke shot them down with his blaster. "More of them will come."

Katara reclaimed the water from the ice spikes, ready to use it all over again. "Let's go get them."

They hurried down the hallway the stormtroopers had come from, putting some more distance between themselves and the server room. This hallway led to a passage to the next complex over, a tunnel with transparent walls providing a view of the outside. High tide left this tunnel half submerged in water, apparently for the aesthetic value of getting to look at sea life while one walked through. It would have been marvelous to look at if they had the time to enjoy it, if they were here under peaceful circumstances.

Instead they were looking at a small platoon of stormtroopers coming from up ahead, all of them aiming blasters at the targets out in the open. Katara was already reacting to their presence, sweeping both arms inward to summon water from outside the tunnel. The walls burst under the strain and water rushed through, flooding the tunnel and slamming into the stormtroopers from both sides. Then she froze enough water to plug the tunnel entirely, just to stop the water from coming back her way. Water continued to flow the other way, until emergency bulkheads closed to hold back the flood.

"Well, we're not going that way anymore," Katara said, seeing her reflection in the ice. She then turned toward Luke. "Would your thing be done yet?"

"Not even close," Luke answered. He turned back and walked the way they had come from. "Still, good work blocking this route. Now we just have to cut them off from the other direction."

So they hurried back down the tunnel and into the hallway, quickly reaching the part in front of the server room. They got there in time to intercept another small platoon of stormtroopers, and it was back to ducking behind corners when the fighting started. Blaster bolts were flying everywhere with stormtroopers shooting at any movement they saw, not caring about the scorch marks they were leaving on the walls. Luke couldn't even glance around the corner to know where to shoot, not without getting his head blasted off anyway.

Firing blindly around the corner, Luke managed to bring a few stormtroopers down. "This isn't good."

"Obviously," Katara said. She got an idea, but needed to test a part of it first. "Let's see what this does."

Katara hurled some water past the corner and shaped it into an inch thick vertical sheet, putting it right in the middle of the incoming blaster fire. She watched many blaster bolts hit the water and pass through, and the stormtroopers kept on shooting through it regardless. She noticed that the blaster bolts were slightly smaller on the other side, some of the energy lost in the water. She added more water to the sheet to make it half a foot thick, and the blaster bolts dispersed completely in the water before they could get through.

Luke got the idea and stood behind the water, where he could see the stormtroopers without getting shot. He stuck his blaster through the water most of the way, getting the end of the barrel to poke out the other side. Luke opened fire on the stormtroopers, having near perfect aim from behind the safety of the water wall. One by one stormtroopers were struck down, which was easy to do when Luke didn't have to worry about getting shot back. Soon the entire platoon was either dead or too wounded to move, and the shooting came to a stop.

Afterward Katara took back the water from her wall, keeping it around her arms in long fluid tendrils. "You know, that turned out better than I imagined."

"Maybe we should start with that next time?" Luke suggested.

"Yeah sure," Katara said. She looked back at the way they had come from. "So is your little gadget done yet? Or do we have to fight more waves of goons?"

Luke led the way back to the server room, got inside and checked the progress on the computer terminal. "Knew we should have brought R2…"

"How much longer?" Katara asked.

"Just a moment," Luke answered. He saw the progress bar reach completion, and then he yanked out the transfer drive and pocketed it. "Got it, now let's get out of here."

"No arguments here," Katara said.

A slight tremor shook through the floor, and Luke had a sinking feeling in his gut. "That can't be good."

They hurried back through the hallway again, heading for the place where they had entered the complex. The airlock wasn't far away and they reached it in a few minutes, and they immediately discovered a major problem. It was completely filled with water, the spaceship's docking clamp torn apart, and the spaceship itself had compacted and was now slowly sinking into the ocean. Only a few scraps of metal remained attached to the airlock, all that Luke could see through the glass in the airlock door.

"Crap," Luke said.

Katara got a look and saw what happened. "Huh… ice must have melted."

"Thought it would have lasted a lot longer," Luke said. He turned away from the airlock and checked the schematic on his data pad. "So much for leaving the way we came."

"How are we going to get out of here?" Katara asked.

"We'll have to steal a ship," Luke answered. He found a suitable spot on the schematic, and then put the data pad. "They have a hangar in that direction."

"Lead the way," Katara insisted.

They didn't get very far before encountering resistance. Another platoon of stormtroopers arrived to stop them, shooting as soon as they spotted something they could shoot. Katara created a thick water wall to block blaster fire, confident in its effectiveness after the last time. Luke in turn stuck his blaster through the water again, and he shot back as quickly as he could squeeze the trigger. But then some stormtroopers threw these little metal spheres into the water, and Luke recognized them as thermal detonators.

Luke pulled his blaster out of the water wall and leapt for cover. "Hit the deck!"

A second later the thermal detonators exploded, annihilating the water wall with a massive shockwave that filled the hallway. Luke had gotten behind a corner in time, and he was knocked to the floor by a weakened shockwave. Katara had not reacted in time and had not moved far enough, taking the full force of the shockwave from a few meters away. It threw her all the way back into a wall, and she fell to the floor bleeding from her face and several other places. Neither of them could recover quickly enough, and the stormtroopers were closing in.

Woozy from the impact, and desperate to do something, Katara reached forward and clenched her fists. She wasn't sure what that might do, and certainly wasn't expecting this. "What the…"

Sudden seizures struck some stormtroopers, their bodies fighting against an unseen stranglehold on their flesh. Katara's fists clenched tighter and the stormtroopers collapsed, as if a puppetmaster cut their strings. Behind the victims more stormtroopers aimed their blasters, only for them to suffer the same fate when Katara repeated the desperate reach and clench of her fists. She then swung her fists and the stormtroopers were flung down the hallway, crashing into more of them that were right behind them.

Luke saw most of it from behind the corner, and when the stormtroopers were dealt with he got up and walked over to Katara. "Okay, never mind what I said earlier, start with _that_ next time."

"I'll keep that in mind, now that I know I can do that," Katara promised. She saw Luke offer a hand, and she let him help her get back on her feet. "And I wasn't sure if that would do anything. I was kind of desperate for a minute there."

"So was that part of your waterbending, or something else?" Luke asked.

"Waterbending, I think," Katara answered. "I saw someone else do it way back, though I didn't know it was bending at the time. Didn't realize she was a waterbender back then, she died before I could talk with her."

Luke heard some groaning and turned to see stormtroopers getting back up, only for Katara to repeat her bending to slam them into a wall. "Sure is effective, you should use it more often."

"Maybe," Katara grumbled. She wiped blood off her face with her hand, and then wiped her bloody hand on a wall to smear the blood off. "I don't know… it doesn't feel right to do this. Reaching inside someone to control them… it's not a good power to have. I'm not sure if I want it."

"We use the gifts we're given, even if we don't like them," Luke said. He turned his lightsaber back on and let Katara get a good look at it. "I don't enjoy slicing stormtroopers in half with this thing, but sometimes it's necessary. When they're trying to kill us, we have to do everything we can to survive."

Katara sighed, not wanting to argue about the principle of the matter. Not when they still needed to get out of here. "Can we talk about this later? Like when no one wants to shoot us?"

Luke put his lightsaber away and held up his blaster instead. "Let's go."

They got moving again and hurried through the complex, heading for a hangar Luke found on the schematic. More stormtroopers arrived to intercept them, only to be swept aside by Katara bending their flesh into submission. The few she missed were shot down by Luke, and they barely slowed down the progress toward the hangar. Eventually the stormtroopers stopped coming, and a new alarm replaced the old one ringing through the complex. The new alarm convinced Luke to pick up the pace, and to keep Katara right next to him.

Someone watching from afar decided to simply eliminate the intruders, implementing a failsafe measure meant for exactly that. Bulkheads ahead and behind them slammed shut, trapping the intruders in one short segment of corridor. This was followed by side walls opening to let in a flood, meant to drown anyone and anything that was inside. Katara simply diverted the water around herself and Luke, forming a large bubble of air around them. Not a drop splashed on them, and the entire purpose of the failsafe had failed.

With the bubble around them Katara and Luke reached the bulkhead ahead of them, pressing the air up against the metal surface and make it dry. Luke turned on his lightsaber and stabbed the bulkhead, though it took a little while to cut open a hole big enough for them to fit through. When he was finished Luke kicked in the large severed chunk of metal, allowing him and Katara to get to the other side. Afterward Katara put plenty of water in the hole and froze it, plugging the path behind to prevent another flood.

"How much farther?" Katara asked.

"Should be over there," Luke said, pointing to one last door in their way.

That door was locked of course, and Luke's lightsaber cut it open easily. The hangar on the other side was a large space filled with a variety of ships, from the crude and blocky to the small and sleek varieties. The ships were guarded by stormtroopers and private security guards, all of whom met the same fate at Katara's bending. Luke quickly skimmed over the ships in the hangar, trying to find the one that best fit his needs. It only needed to carry two people and have a decent hyperdrive, and be fast enough to evade pursuit before making the jump to lightspeed.

"That one," Luke said, pointing at his choice. It was a slim silver ship, with wide wings in the back and the front end tapered like a sharp dagger. "Warm up the engines, I'll get the hangar door."

"Alright," Katara said. She was about to enter the ship when she turned back to Luke. "You do realize I don't know how to do that?"

Luke groaned and shook his head. "Never mind, just watch my back instead."

The hangar door was closed and under lockdown, and Luke didn't even try to override the controls, certain that it would take far too long. Instead he got into a different ship, a much larger one with a thick hull, and rigged the controls to engage the engines after a thirty second delay. Luke got out of that ship as quickly as he could, just enough time for the delay to pass, and he got to watch that ship take off without a pilot. The ship lurched forward and crashed into the hangar door, tearing a large hole and passing through to the other side.

The result was a smoldering wreck outside the hangar, nearly far enough away to fall off a platform and into the sea below. Luke checked the size of the hole in the hangar door, made sure the wreckage wouldn't be a problem, and was happy with this bit of crude demolition. Once the way out was clear Luke went back to the sleek ship, getting inside before more stormtroopers could get here. He went straight to the cockpit where Katara was waiting, and he got straight to work preparing the ship for takeoff.

"Strap in," Luke recommended. He already had a safety harness strapping him to the pilot's seat, and he had his hand on the throttle. "We're going out hot."

Katara strapped into the copilot's seat. "Ready when you are."

Luke engaged the throttle to maximum, and the ship accelerated so fast it pushed Luke and Katara into their seats. The ship shot through the hole and into the air, just above the ocean surface at high tide. Intense rain pummeled the ship as it took off, and Katara did what she could to clear the path ahead. Pursuit ships attempted to chase the stolen ship, but were hampered by the rain. Luke flew the ship straight into storm clouds above the sea, rising up at a near vertical angle. It lost the pursuit ships in the storm clouds, and on the other side the ship flew straight out into space.

As soon as he could Luke engaged the ship's hyperdrive, and only then could he relax. "Well that could have gone better."

Back to being sick to her stomach again, Katara slouched in her seat and glared at Luke. "Could have gone better? We lost our ship, nearly got blown up, and almost got stuck in that place."

"And we got out with valuable intel," Luke said. He held up the transfer drive, now containing all sorts of encrypted information. "This will greatly help the alliance, once it's decrypted of course. And we discovered another power at your disposal, which has proven quite useful. I'd say that's a win-win."


	19. The Other Side

Chapter 19: The Other Side

A few miles to the north of Yu Dao, in a secluded area rarely visited by people in the city, Kori's freedom fighters were taking every precaution for security and secrecy. They had slipped out of the city one by one over the last few weeks, with none of the imperials noticing the disappearances. They gathered underground in a makeshift camp, which had enough supplies to last for a month. Layers of defenses were established around a central area at the deepest spot, all to defend a single person that would be at his most vulnerable.

Avatar Aang was going to enter the spirit world.

Standing next to him was Kori, still not certain with what Aang wanted to do. "You're absolutely sure about this? If something happens out here we don't have a way to pull you back."

Lighting a few incense candles spread out in a circle, Aang was just about ready to go. "It's worth the risk. If I can get the spirits to help us, we just might be able to win this fight."

"You're certain they can help?" Kori asked. "What can spirits do that benders can't?"

Aang sat down in the circle's center, where he planned to leave his body during the journey. "Do you remember when the Fire Nation invaded the North Pole?"

"I heard rumors about it," Kori answered. She crossed her arms and raised one eyebrow. "They say you annihilated the navy singlehandedly."

"Not quite," Aang corrected. "The Ocean Spirit did all the work. I was just a conduit it used to take physical form. If Yue hadn't restored the Moon Spirit that night, I think the Ocean would have flooded the entire Fire Nation."

That was enough to convince Kori. "Okay, did not realize spirits could do that."

"And that was just the Ocean Spirit," Aang said. He crossed his legs and got into position to meditate. "If other spirits are that powerful, they will be the edge we need to win."

That being said, Aang got started with his task. He closed his eyes and cleared his thoughts, difficult though that may be when there were so many things to worry about. Eventually he settled on the calm rhythm of his breathing, putting everything else out of his mind. This would have been easier on the solstice, when the two worlds were close, but Aang had to make do without it. After some time Aang's eyes opened and glowed blue, followed by his tattoos glowing with the same blue light. But the body was now vacant, Aang's spirit having departed from the physical world.

Aang knew he had arrived when the sensations changed, no longer sitting on a cold stone floor but a grassy field instead. He opened his eyes and stood up, seeing expansive plains of tall blue-green grass in every direction. Not a single tree was in sight wherever he looked, just more grass covering terrain that was nearly completely flat. There wasn't even a simple landmark nearby, nothing to remind him of where exactly he had entered the spirit world. Aang could already imagine the difficulty of getting back here, since everything looked exactly the same.

"This could be a problem," Aang muttered. He scratched his head, and then threw both hands up in the air. "Well, better get moving."

Picking a direction at random and starting a walk, Aang journeyed deeper into the spirit world. He kept his eyes peeled for any spirits that might be nearby, but he didn't see any that might be living in the tall grass. The plains seemed to go on forever no matter how far Aang walked, having nothing on the horizon to tell distance or scale. Aang stopped and looked around again, though for all he could tell he hadn't moved at all. They only difference was a gentle breeze blowing through the plains, comforting but useless for him right now.

"Hello!" Aang yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Is anyone there?!"

There was no answer, and all he heard was the sound of the breeze.

"Where are they?" Aang wondered. Now he was getting a bad feeling in his gut, like he knew something was wrong but didn't know what. "Shouldn't the spirit world be full of spirits?"

As if to answer him the wind picked up, ruffling Aang's clothes before forming a small cyclone behind him. Aang turned around to face it, and he saw someone appear. "Yangchen!"

The previous Air Nomad Avatar nodded, looking down at the current one in front of her. "It is good to see you Aang. I trust that you have been well?"

"Well as I can be, given how bad things have gotten," Aang said. "I'm looking for the spirits, I need their help. Do you know where they are?"

Yangchen closed her eyes and focused, feeling for the presence of spirits that should be here. She turned to her right and looked at the horizon. "Over there, a spirit I think you know."

Aang looked that way, and only saw more of the endless plains. "How far is it?"

"Far?" Yangchen questioned. "Here, distance is meaningless."

Everything shifted around them, the plains moving around the Avatars standing still. Faster and faster the plains moved, the grass beginning to blur into itself from Aang's perspective. The environment abruptly changed from plains to a forest, complete with thousands of trees and a thick canopy that blocked the sky. Here the moving terrain slowed down and came into focus, allowing Aang to properly see the exotic vegetation in this forest. At a small meadow the movement came to a stop, with Aang and Yangchen standing at the tree line.

"Did not know we could do that," Aang admitted. He took in the view of the forest and the meadow, looking for any spirits that might be nearby. "So where is this spirit you mentioned?"

There was rustling of bushes in the distance, and Yanchen looked toward the noise. "That would be him now."

At the other side of the meadow a creature burst from the forest, about half the size of a sky bison but a completely different beast entirely. It looked like an ordinary panda, though that was not ordinary in and of itself. This appearance concealed a more monstrous form within, one that Aang new better than this passive state. It had been a long time since he had first met this spirit, nearly two years now if he was remembering correctly. The panda spirit stopped in the middle of the meadow, and Aang approached the spirit like an old friend.

"Hei Bai!" Aang said, stopping in front of the spirit. "Long time no see."

The spirit made a low growl, as if to agree with Aang.

"I'm really glad you're here," Aang said. "I need help in the physical world. Alien invaders have taken over, and we can't drive them out by ourselves. Will you help us?"

Hei Bai grumbled a little, and then shook his head.

"Why not?" Aang demanded. "Please, you have to help."

Again Hei Bai shook his head. He turned to his right and walked to the nearest tree, placing one palm on the bark and making a slight whimper. Hei Bai turned back and stood between Aang and the trees, as if standing guard over the forest.

"You want to protect your home," Aang said. He thought of a forest in the physical world, reminded of when Hei Bai went on a rampage after the Fire Nation burned it down. "It's not safe. The invaders will destroy it along with everything else."

Hei Bai growled at Aang, and his paw dug into the ground. He knew exactly what was going on with the physical incarnation of his forest, that it was untouched by the invaders and not in any immediate danger. Hei Bai showed his teeth and growled some more, and Aang could tell he was not happy.

Still, Aang pressed the matter. "You have to help us. The world is in danger and you can't just stand idly by in your forest. We need you to fight with us."

Instead Hei Bai growled even louder, and promptly changed into his monstrous form. Larger, with six legs, and translucent skin instead of fur, Hei Bai roared with a deeper voice. From his mouth a beam of ethereal light shot out, hitting Aang at point blank range. The beam blasted Aang right off his feet and into the air, launching him far away and out of the forest entirely. Aang couldn't see where he was going, but could hear the echo of Hei Bai's roar the entire way. His ears were ringing when he finally came to a stop, still hearing the lingering echo from an angry spirit.

Aang groaned and got on his feet, noticing that he was in a different place. "Where am I now?"

The forest was nowhere in sight, replaced by a sandy beach along an extensive shoreline. A vast ocean stretched beyond the horizon, its surface covered in endless waves that crashed against the beach in a constant rhythm. Aang didn't see Yangchen anywhere, and figured that she had been left behind when Hei Bai blasted him away. At the edge of the water Aang saw his reflection in its surface, and the image rippled and morphed into someone else entirely. Now there was a Water Tribe man looking back, and he emerged from the water to stand before Aang.

"Kuruk!" Aang said, knowing this past life of his. "I could really use your help."

"I know," Kuruk said. "You are looking for spirits. There is one that I can bring you to."

"It's not Koh, is it?" Aang asked. "I'm not ready to ask him for help just yet."

"No," Kuruk answered, and he could see the relief in Aang. "Koh always knows when I am nearby. He always slips away just before I can reach him."

Aang let out a sigh. "Okay, then take me to this spirit you know."

Kuruk smiled. "You know her better than I do."

And then Kuruk pushed Aang into the water. He made a big splash and sank beneath the surface, yet did not hit a bottom that should have been there. Aang found himself in free fall, the water having disappeared and replaced by an empty void. After spinning around for a while Aang managed to get his body upright, only to look down and see a landscape falling away from him. The blue sky faded to darkness with little specks on light scattered everywhere, and the world Aang saw shrank away faster than he could comprehend.

A sudden impact nearly knocked him out, and when the world stopped spinning Aang got to see where he had ended up now. "What in the world…"

Bleak gray terrain surrounded him on all sides, not a single speck of color to be found in this desolate wasteland. Aang couldn't imagine anything living in such a place, and he could not see even the smallest bit of vegetation anywhere he looked. Only the rocks and the dust welcomed Aang, the latter sticking to his clothes and threatening to drain away the color. Scattered around the land were craters of varying sizes, the newer ones overlapping and erasing the older ones. Aang had no idea what spirit he might find here, until he looked up at the deep black sky.

"Huh…" Aang muttered. "Gaoling, we have a problem."

The moon was gone, and in its place was the Earth. Or rather what the Earth was like in the spirit world, the land and seas in different places than the continents and oceans of the physical world. Though he felt like he had only taken one small step, he had made one giant leap straight to the moon. For a while Aang just stood there and looked at the Earth, wanting this moment to last forever. But he wasn't here to sightsee, and there was still a job to do. Aang surveyed the barren terrain around him, having a feeling that he knew which spirit dwelled here.

Light coalesced around the top of a small hill, quickly taking the form of a young woman. She was wreathed in an aura of the pale moonlight, her long white hair nearly blending in with its glow. Her skin was only slightly darker, a trick of the light permeating her every feature. She set foot on the hill and walked down the shallow slope, the glow around her dimming and fading away. Without the light her true dark skin became clearly visible, along with her sharp blue eyes looked at Aang. She was happy to see Aang here, appreciating the visit from an old friend.

"Yue," Aang said. "It's good to see you."

"It's been a while," Yue said. "You look good."

"Thank you," Aang said, his face getting just a little bit red. But then his gut sank, reminded of why Yue was here at all. "I'm so sorry for what happened."

"I know," Yue said. She remembered when the moon spirit had been slain, when she had given up mortal life to take its place in the spirit world. "It wasn't your fault."

"I keep telling myself that," Aang admitted. "It doesn't really help."

"You did everything you could," Yue said. "And in the end, I think this was meant to be."

"Maybe," Aang said. He sighed and got to the reason he was here. "I need your help again."

"To fight another war," Yue said. She looked up at the sky, to a spot where an armada dwelled in the physical world. "I've been watching. I've seen what these invaders have brought to Earth."

"Good, then you know that we desperately need help," Aang said. "The invaders are just too much. Only spirits have a chance of stopping them. Can I count on you?"

Yue looked away, not able to meet Aang's eyes anymore. "I wish you could."

"What?" Aang blurted out.

"I'm sorry," Yue said. She sat down on the rim of a small crater, arms held tight around her chest. "I have responsibilities here Aang, and the Ocean does too. We are a pair, the push and pull that control the tides. If we neglect our role to wage war, the world will be unbalanced and thrown into chaos."

Aang remembered a night without the moon, the same night the Ocean Spirit fought the Fire Nation. It was a night without the tides, a night without waterbending. It had only lasted a brief time, yet had a catastrophic impact on the world at large. Though Aang didn't see it firsthand he had heard the stories, tales of lives lost when sudden tsunamis struck unsuspecting shores. Then he imagined all the life that depended on the tides, life that would be lost without them. Only through sacrifice was the moon restored and the tides returned to normal, without it the world would have remained broken.

With all that in mind, Aang sighed and sat down next to Yue. "I understand. We do what we have to do. There's no point in saving the world if we have to destroy it along the way."

"I wish it wasn't this way, I really do," Yue said. She turned her head to look at Aang. "I may not be able to fight, but I can spy on the invaders. Let you know if they bring in more ships, where they happen to be, when the bright side of the moon is facing them. I can at least do that much."

"Thank you," Aang said. "At this point, I'll take whatever I can get."

Yue nodded. "When you get back to the physical world, could you say hi to Sokka for me?"

"If I find him, I will," Aang promised. He stood up and faced Yue, who stood up as well. "So is there a shortcut back to the main spirit world, or…"

Yue laughed. "Just look up there, I can handle the rest."

Aang did as she said and looked at the Earth, right before Yue shoved him in the back and sent him hurtling upward. The moon fell away and the Earth grew larger, the gap between seeming like no distance at all. The return trip went by faster than Aang could comprehend, and before he knew it he was plummeting down toward another part of the spirit world. After that long leap and subsequent impact, Aang was feeling fortunate that he didn't have his physical body to feel the pain. It took a moment for him to recover though, eventually getting up and taking a look around.

He was standing near the top of a large canyon, looking down at a small river flowing at the bottom. The canyon's walls were carved out of sandstone, alternating bands of brown and rust red rock from top to bottom. Up and down the length of the canyon were various rock formations, carved out by the river long ago and shaped by wind-blown sand over time. With a solid wall on one side and a sheer drop on the other, Aang was stuck on a narrow path along the canyon. So he started walking downstream, wondering where the narrow path might lead.

By now Aang had a good idea what was coming next. "Okay Kyoshi, you can come out now."

Ahead of him part of the wall cracked and crumbled, creating a dark hole that a tall woman in green stepped out of. "You're learning, Aang."

Aang had to stretch his neck to look Kyoshi in the eye, what with her being considerably taller than him. "I suppose you already know why I'm in the spirit world?"

"I do," Kyoshi answered. "You are looking for help to fight a war."

"Hei Bai wouldn't help, and the Ocean and Moon spirits can't," Aang said. "Do you know of any spirits that might be able and willing? Because I'm out of spirits I know and trust."

"I never put much faith in spirits during my life," Kyoshi admitted. "They were never worth the trouble."

"Yeah," Aang said. He looked around a bit more, seeing that this canyon was devoid of spirits too. "It seems like the spirits are trying to avoid me wherever I go."

Kyoshi looked around and saw the same thing Aang did. "It is rather strange. Normally this place is teeming with minor spirits. They appear to have left right before you arrived."

Aang groaned and threw his hands apart. "Do you have any ideas? I'm all ears."

"I have one," Kyoshi answered. "There is a place where you could learn about the spirits. It may contain the answers you need to acquire spirit allies in the physical world."

Once again the world around them moved while they stood still, the warping terrain taking them down the length of the canyon and out the far end. From there they entered a vast jungle filled with enormous trees, coming to stop near the center and beneath a massive shadow. There Aang and Kyoshi looked up to see a massive building suspended in the jungle canopy, upside down with the foundations tangled in branches and the central spire nearly poking into the ground. But despite the inverted perspective Aang recognized the building, having last seen it in the physical world.

"The spirit library," Aang muttered. It was truly a sight to behold here, now that it wasn't mostly buried in a desert. "Pretty sure I'm not welcome in there anymore. The owl doesn't like me very much."

"What happened?" Kyoshi asked.

"Learned something important, wanted to use it, the owl took offense," Aang described. "Also, Sokka threw a book at it. That made it personal."

"I see," Kyoshi said. She reached into her uniform and pulled out a scroll. "Take this. Wan Shi Tong has been after it since I was alive. I'm sure it will bribe him into letting you use the library again."

"Okay," Aang said, accepting the gift. "I suppose it's worth a try."

Aang looked up at the library again, and felt a sudden case of vertigo. The perspective shifted and the gravity shifted with it, and Aang fell upward toward the tree branches in front of the library. He crashed within crisscrossing branches and quickly got on his feet, finding that the world had flipped to put the library right side up and everything else upside down instead of the other way around. There Aang saw the massive front doors of the library, open just wide enough to let spirit foxes through. Aang squeezed through and entered the library, finding a large antechamber that still had piles of sand in the corners.

A large shadow passed over the floor, and a large owl spirit swooped in for a landing. "You've got quite the nerve to come here. It hasn't even been two years yet."

"Well I am pretty desperate," Aang admitted. He held up the scroll in a tempting fashion. "So I come bearing gifts. How about it? Let bygones be bygones?"

Wan Shi Tong knew what the scroll was, and he tilted his head in an amused manner. "Did you really think you can bribe me so brazenly? You are here to find knowledge to use for war. You know that I will not allow you to abuse my knowledge like that."

" _Your_ knowledge?" Aang questioned. "The price of admission is a piece of knowledge. Those foxes take knowledge from all over the world and bring it here. Everything book and scroll I saw in here was written by human hands. It's not your knowledge, its human knowledge. Humans have every right to use that knowledge, and we need it now more than ever."

"To abuse it now more than ever," Wan Shi Tong said. "You seek the knowledge to compel spirits to fight your war for you. You would have spirits fight and die for a cause that is not ours, a war that we have no interest in fighting. The physical world does not concern us, and I will not let you abuse knowledge that would put spirits at risk just to better humanity."

"And what gives you the right to make that decision?" Aang demanded.

"This is my library," Wan Shi Tong said. "I insist that you leave before I force you out again."

Remembering how he had barely escaped last time, and that he didn't have his bending this time, Aang realized that if he fought the spirit over this he would never leave at all. "Fine, have it your way."

Aang turned around and walked out of the library, not looking back while its doors closed. As he walked the perspective flipped again, dropping Aang back to the jungle floor with the library upside down. From there Aang walked without direction or purpose, just wanting to get away from a spirit that would not help him. Soon Aang had left the jungle altogether and entered another part of the spirit world, one that seemed even more hostile than where he had been before. It got Aang to stop in his tracks, just to get a good look of where he was this time.

He stood at the edge of vast volcanic plains, the land covered in black basaltic rock from a recent lava flow. Hot steam erupted from cracks in the rock, filled with all sorts of toxic gasses in addition to water vapor. In the distance Aang saw molten lava flowing in another direction, adding the volcanic rock that stretched across the landscape. The heat was close to unbearable here, and Aang was certain it would have burned his physical body. Regardless of the heat Aang walked onto the volcanic rock, expecting someone he knew to appear here as well.

Sure enough a pillar of flame erupted ahead of Aang, and when the flames were extinguished an old man in red appeared. "Hello Aang."

"Roku," Aang said, stopping in front of the past life he knew the best. "I don't suppose you have any advice? No one else has been able to help."

"I know," Roku said. "I've been watching, as always. And I understand your frustrations."

"Can you?" Aang questioned. "We're facing an enemy that we simply can't beat without help. The spirits are the help we need, but they either can't or won't help us."

"Haven't we been through this before?" Roku asked. "I recall another time you wanted help from spirits. And there was one spirit that provided what you sought."

"Yeah, Koh," Aang grumbled. He didn't want to ask that particular spirit, but all the others he knew had left him without any other options. "Fine, maybe he'll want some alien faces in his collection."

"Remember, do not show any emotion at all," Roku advised.

"Or he'll steal my face, I remember," Aang said. He took in a deep breath, and he let it out. "I'm ready."

Aang left the volcanic plains and left Roku behind, heading for the one part of the spirit world he had never wanted to visit again. The landscape shifted around Aang and brought him somewhere else, this time a dark brown swamp with large gnarled trees everywhere. The largest tree in this swamp was Aang's destination, the lair of Koh the Face Stealer concealed beneath the massive roots. Surrounding the place were faceless baboons, a warning for those that would tread here lightly. Aang slowed his pace as he approached the entrance, nestled between the two largest roots of the tree.

The lair was in a cave beneath the tree, and Aang stopped at the threshold to prepare himself. He calmed his mind as much as possible, and then walked into the cave at a slow pace. Large stone steps led him down into the darkness, where the only light from the entrance was barely enough for him to see. Smaller roots were buried in the ceiling and walls of the cave, the only thing he could still see clearly. Aang stopped when he reached the bottom of the steps, where the stone gave way to bare dirt, the spot where Aang had met Koh before.

"Welcome back."

That voice was all too familiar, having heard it in his nightmares on several occasions. "Koh."

The face stealer appeared before Aang, the body of a giant centipede currently with the face of a noh mask. "At long last, we meet again. Though much sooner than I expected. I thought you would return to me with a new face."

"Sorry to disappoint you," Aang said, keeping his voice monotone. "I assume you know why I am here?"

"Of course, I have been watching," Koh said. He slowly crawled around Aang on the right, turning toward the airbender's back. "I know what you face, and I know what you want."

"I want help against the invaders," Aang said. "I'm sure you have the power to fight them. But the question is, do you have the motive to fight them?"

"A wise question to ask," Koh said. His face changed to that of an old man, and he crawled around to Aang's left side. "I wonder, how will you convince me that helping you is in my interests?"

"At least you're open to negotiating," Aang remarked. He looked at Koh's face as it changed to a baboon's, but Aang didn't let that shock him. "Last time we met you were interested in adding to your collection. There's bound to be plenty of variety under those helmets of theirs."

"Oh I know," Koh said. He got in front of Aang and chanced his face again, a red face with black markings and several short horns. "I have a few already."

It took all self-control to smother a look of surprise, and still Aang's eyes widened for a split second. "Do I want to know where that one came from?"

"My little secret," Koh answered. He switched to a face that was covered in brown fur. "I have known of these aliens for some time. I've already taken my pick of the lot. The ones they brought to the physical world, they have little to offer me that I do not already have."

Aang clenched his fist, but kept it hidden behind his back. "Fine, if you're not going to help, at least answer one thing. If any spirits are willing to help, who are they?"

"I would think that answer is obvious," Koh said. "None of them will help you."

"What?" Aang blurted out.

Fortunately Koh didn't see that, for he had been crawling away at a sloth-snail's pace. "You see, we have no interest in helping your kind. Threats to you are meaningless to us. To put it in simple terms, the alien invasion you need help against, it is not our problem."

No amount of self-control could contain the look of betrayal, and Aang turned away to keep Koh from seeing it. Aang walked back up the steps out of Koh's lair, keeping his pace slow until he was certain he was out of Koh's sight. As soon as he saw light Aang hurried out of the cave, getting outside and then running as fast as his legs could carry him. He just wanted to get far away as possible, just for the slightest chance that Koh might take his face. Aang didn't know how long he had been running when he stopped, now far away from the swamp and the face stealer.

Now Aang found himself in the middle of a strange desert, one where snow and sand were mixed together in a combination of hot and cold extremes. Aang found a small snow-sand dune and sat down, taking a moment to calm down and clear his head a little. Yet his thoughts kept drifting back to what the face stealer had told him, that none of the spirits would come to humanity's aid no matter how much he pleaded with them. Finally Aang understood why he did not see many spirits in the spirit world, for they were avoiding him so that they would not get tangled up in humanity's war.

It was an infuriating thought, and an unacceptable one, the idea that he would return to the physical world empty handed. Aang stood up, looked at the sky, and yelled at the top of his lungs. "Please! Anyone! If you care at all! We need your help!"

Somehow those words echoed here, despite not having anything for the sound to bounce off. Aang didn't hear anything else, so he threw his hands up in the air. He sat down on the dune again and put his hands on his knees, head hanging down and looking at the ground. Aang was just about to leave the spirit world when he heard something else, footsteps in the distance gradually getting closer and louder. He got back up and looked for whoever was approaching, though it was not anyone Aang would have imagined.

It was an old man, with short grey hair and a short beard, wearing a white robe partially covered by a brown cloak. "Hello."

"Hi," Aang said back. His eyes met with the old man's, not sure what to make of him. "Who are you?"

The old man smiled. "My name is Obi Wan Kenobi."


	20. Coast to Coast

Chapter 20: Coast to Coast

"Obi Wan Kenobi?" Aang repeated. "You say that name like I'm supposed to know it."

Still standing in the sand-snow desert in the spirit world, Aang faced this old man that had come to his call. If he didn't know any better Aang could swear that the old man didn't know where he was, taking every opportunity to look around and study the area. Still, Aang was grateful that someone had bothered to show up, even though the old man looked like just another human. Aang was certainly curious about where the old man had come from, since the white robe and brown cloak spoke of fashions entirely unfamiliar to him.

Kenobi smiled, glad to have new company. "No, I suppose not. You're too young to have known who I am, and my return from retirement was all too short."

"Was?" Aang questioned, picking up on the use of past tense. "Does that mean you're retired again?"

"In a manner of speaking," Kenobi said. "I am dead, after all."

That surprised Aang, though he recovered quickly. "Dead huh? Figures."

Now it was Kenobi's turn to be surprised. "Is this not strange for you?"

"I've been talking to my past lives all day," Aang said. "I've kind of gotten used to it."

Kenobi shrugged. "Fair enough. Now then, may I ask, who are you?"

"I'm Aang, and I'm the Avatar." That's when he realized something. "Hold on, let me guess, you don't know what the Avatar is?"

"Avatar, a person that is a vessel for a supernatural entity," Kenobi answered. He looked at Aang closely, sensing something otherworldly about him. "Yes, I see it now. There is something within you that I do not recognize. I wonder, what entity do you contain within you?"

"I… um… uh… don't know," Aang admitted. He rubbed the back of his head. "I'm told that the Avatar is the spirit of the world, but my gut is telling me that's not true."

"Perhaps," Kenobi said. "It seems we have gotten distracted. I was drawn here by your call for aid. What is it that you need help with so badly?"

"There's an alien invasion that's taken over my world," Aang answered. "There is a resistance trying to fight, but we're just not enough to defeat the Empire."

A feeling told Kenobi that it was the same Empire he knew, knowing its influence even through the words of someone else. "I will do what I can. But first I must see how matters are in the living world. I cannot help if I do not know what is going on."

"Fine," Aang said. He sat down and focused on the connection to the physical world. "Come with me."

Once again the landscape shifted around Aang, leaving the sand-snow desert far behind. The various parts of the spirit world whipped by, a maelstrom of colors going too fast to make out properly. It slowed down when he reached the endless fields, and came to a stop when he reached the center. Kenobi stayed next to Aang the entire way, as if anchored to him by an invisible tether. At the place Aang had entered the spirit world he left it behind, vanishing from this world to return to his physical body.

The sounds and sensations of the spirit world disappeared, replaced by different sounds and sensations that felt far more real. Aang's eyes were closed when the change was complete, and he suddenly felt very stiff in his legs and lower back. He opened his eyes and looked around, now back in the cave where he had departed the physical world for the spirit world. Aang groaned as he stretched his legs, feeling like he hadn't moved in days. It got the attention of those around him, those that had been guarding his body while his spirit was away.

Among them was Kori, only an hour into her latest guard shift. "Welcome back."

"Good to be back," Aang said. He saw Kori's offered hand, and he let her help him up. "How long was I gone? Feels like forever."

"Just a day," Kori answered. "You were starting to worry us."

Aang's stomach rumbled fiercely, and he put a hand on his gut. "Yeah, I'm feeling it now."

Kori looked away and snapped her fingers a few times, and someone brought a tray of food out for Aang. "This should help you feel better."

There were all sorts of fruits and vegetables on the tray, considerate on the cook's part, and Aang devoured the food in just a few minutes. He nearly choked from eating too fast, but it was worth it to fill up his stomach. "Ah… that hit the spot."

"I'll bet," Kori said. "So, how did it go in the spirit world?"

"Not what I was expecting," Aang admitted. "Of all the spirits I found, only Yue wanted to help, and all she can do is let us know what's going on between here and the moon."

"That's it?" Kori questioned. "No one else wanted to help us?"

"Not exactly," Aang said. He saw Kenobi appear before him, only now he was a translucent shade of blue. "He says he's here to help."

Kori looked at the spot Aang was looking at, but she didn't see anything there. "Is 'he' invisible?"

Aang looked at Kori, then to Kenobi, and then back to Kori. "You can't see him?"

" _I wouldn't expect her to,"_ Kenobi said, his voice sounding like it was coming through a filter. _"Not everyone has a strong connection to the Force."_

Now Aang just looked at Kenobi. "What in the world is the Force?"

* * *

While the stolen ship cruised through hyperspace, Luke leaned back in the pilot's seat with his eyes closed, somewhere in between being asleep and awake. Times like this was when Luke thought about what he had lost over a year ago, when his old life ended and his new one began. The loss of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, leaving Tatooine behind for good, the death of his brief mentor Obi Wan Kenobi, it all came back to him. He missed the first most of all, never doubted the second, but the last was the greatest loss.

Yet it seemed like the old man was still with him, watching over Luke from the great beyond. Gone, but not forgotten, Kenobi was always there looking over him. Luke could swear he heard his voice from time to time, providing guidance when he needed it most. He wished he could have spent more time with him, for there had been so much Kenobi wanted to teach Luke about the Force and being a Jedi. The few lessons he got aboard the _Millennium Falcon_ were cherished memories, yet sorely lacking compared to what Kenobi had wanted at the time.

A beeping noise interrupted his thoughts, prompting Luke to turn his attention back to the controls in front of him. The navigation computer was reporting their approach to their destination, about fifteen minutes before they would arrive. While waiting during those minutes Luke looked over at Katara, who had slept in the copilot's chair for most of the trip. She was starting to wake up too, stretching her arms while making a big yawn. Though Katara tried to go back to sleep, it wasn't going to happen, so she turned toward Luke.

"Are we there yet?" Katara asked.

"Almost," Luke answered. He waited a little bit longer, and put his hands on the controls. "Coming out of hyperspace… now."

The view changed to normal space, entering a system with a blue giant star and a few gas giant planets. It was the rendezvous point with _Home One_ , set up in case the Empire managed to extrapolate the vector of Luke's jump and follow him here. Luke was grateful for that bit of foresight, certain that this stolen ship had a tracking beacon in case of theft. He transmitted an identification signal to _Home One_ , telling the rebels aboard that he was on this ship and not some random traveler. _Home One_ 's hangar doors opened, and Luke flew the ship towards the hangar.

Feeling much better now, but still not in a position to go back to sleep, Katara leaned back and relaxed as best she could. "Finally, we're almost there. I can't wait to get out of this thing."

Soon enough the ship landed in _Home One_ 's hangar, and a moment later Luke shut off the engines. Katara was out of the ship first, enjoying the chance to stretch her legs. Luke was out right after her, and they passed by some crewmen heading into the ship to examine it. Everyone else in the hangar eyed the stolen ship, some impressed that it had been taken undamaged. Luke got some complements from people he passed by, but didn't have the time to chitchat about it. A proper debriefing had to come first, for both him and Katara.

"Let's get this over with," Luke said, walking beside Katara now. "Sooner we tell Mon Mothma everything, the sooner we can get back to base."

"Fine," Katara said. "Not like there's anything important going on right now."

* * *

The ceiling shook.

"Uh Oh…" Aang muttered.

The ceiling shook again, harder this time, and shook dust and dirt off the ceiling. Aang and Kori had been walking through a tunnel at the time, on their way out of the underground camp. The ceiling shook a third time, and it had them suspecting the worst. Everyone was on the move now, getting away from the surface and heading further underground. The highest tunnels were empty when their ceilings collapse, demolished by bombs dropped from the sky. More bombs were dropped through the holes, exploding and further damaging the underground camp.

"They've found us," Kori said. Part of the ceiling broke apart, and she put it back with earthbending. "We need to get out of here now."

Aang closed his eyes and stomped one foot on the floor, getting a vibration picture of the camp and the damage it sustained. "This way."

"You've got to show me how you do that," Kori insisted, following the path Aang picked.

The lowest tunnels were still intact, including some of the escape tunnels set up ahead of time. The closest one was damaged, likely to collapse before they could get to it. The next one over was in better shape, and Aang figured it was their best bet to leave. Along the way the earthbenders in the resistance were reinforcing the tunnels, repairing the damage as best they could so that the firebenders could get out first. But they couldn't keep up with the bombardment, and the tunnels were blown apart into rubble one level at a time.

As Aang and Kori ran for the escape tunnel, Kenobi was floating behind them. He was looking up at the ceiling, finding something out of the ordinary. _"The aerial bombardment hasn't stopped. Why haven't they sent in the stormtroopers yet?"_

"They know better than to fight us underground," Aang said. Another bomb made the ceiling collapse ahead of them, and Aang cleared away the rubble with earthbending. "This is the reason why."

Kenobi saw the earthbending, and understood the obvious applications. _"That would do it."_

They reached the escape tunnel and hurried through, heading due south toward Yu Dao. Resistance fighters followed them through, the firebenders first and then the earthbenders in the rear. Once the last of them were in the tunnel the earthbenders collapsed the entrance, and earthbent the rock to make it look like a natural wall. As they went along the earthbenders filled in the tunnel with more rock, at least until they were beyond the perimeter of the camp. With any luck the bombardment wouldn't expose the tunnel past that point, and they would be gone before the Empire realized what they did.

The escape tunnel ended in a thick forest north of Yu Dao, with the city just over the horizon. Aang and Kori were the first to emerge, earthbending aside a large boulder nestled between a few trees. The thick canopy concealed them from the air, but they could still hear the TIE Bombers flying overhead. They also heard the explosions from distant bombs, still raining down on the underground camp. They could imagine the big hole in the ground now, and they considered themselves fortunate to have escaped it.

Aang sat down at the base of a tree, looking up while still hearing the bombers in flight. "Looks like I got back just in time. Any longer in the spirit world and we might have been trapped in there."

"Yeah, that was close," Kori agreed. "What I want to know is, how did they figure out we were there?"

" _Ground penetrating radar would do it,"_ Kenobi answered. A lack of reaction from Kori reminded him that she couldn't hear him, so he turned to Aang. _"It lets them detect underground fortifications."_

"Kenobi says they got tech to see underground," Aang said. "Makes sense, they've done this kind of thing before. Nearly killed me one time when I wasn't expecting it."

"We'll have to find another way to stay hidden," Kori said. She watched the resistance fighters come out of the tunnel, fortunate that so many had made it out. "We should disperse until we figure it out."

"Yeah, no point staying together until we know our next move," Aang said. He looked at Kenobi, who was nodding in approval. "Right now we need more information."

* * *

In a private meeting room aboard _Home One_ , Mon Mothma debriefed Luke and Katara. They told her everything that happened during their mission, from the underwater stealth to the battle and the eventual escape with the stolen ship. The only interruptions were for the sake of clarity, when Mon Mothma didn't quite understand something in particular. Otherwise Mon Mothma patiently listened to them, all while a protocol droid recorded everything. At the end of it Luke handed over the transfer drive with the Kamino server data on it, the whole point of the mission in the first place.

Mon Mothma held up the transfer drive, eager to put the data within to good use. "Excellent work. I can see why Leia picked you two for this mission. You get the job done."

"Thank you," Luke said. "Some things didn't go as planned, but we adapted and achieved our goals."

"Indeed," Mon Mothma said. She pocketed the transfer drive, and her gaze settled on Katara. "I'm a little concerned though about this ability of yours. What did you call it again?"

"Bloodbending," Katara answered, the only word that seemed appropriate. Just thinking about it sent shivers down her spine. "I didn't even know it was possible until this mission. I'm not even sure if it would work back home."

"Could anyone with your abilities do this, under the same conditions?" Mon Mothma asked.

"I guess so," Katara answered. "Well, most waterbenders forget that the body has lots of water in it. They wouldn't think of trying to bend that water. But once word gets out that it's possible, everyone would be doing it."

That was a troubling thought for Mon Mothma, considering what the Empire might do with such power. "In that case, we may need act sooner than we've planned. Skywalker, Katara, take the next transport back to Echo Base. Leia has been working on a plan to strike the Empire at Earth."

Katara's eyes lit up at that. "Really! We're finally going to do something about my home?"

"What that something is depends on Leia," Mon Mothma said. "The transport leaves in an hour. Get something to eat, and head for the transport. Don't be late."

* * *

Late in the evening the night sky was a beautiful sight, all the stars shining bright with the full moon hanging just above the horizon. Far from the lights of Yu Dao, Aang could see all the starlight without the glare of the city interfering with the view. A meadow in the forest offered a clear view of the sky, centered on the thick band of stars along the plane of the galaxy. Aang leaned back in a seat made from rock and dirt, looking up at the sky from a comfortable angle. He watched the full moon start to rise above the tree line, patiently waiting for the whole thing to come into view.

While Aang waited for the moon Kori was sound asleep, and Kenobi was standing watch beside Aang. _"Are you certain she will be here?"_

Aang nodded. "She told me she could tell us what's going on up there."

Sure enough, when the full moon rose into view, someone arrived. The light of the moon focused onto one spot, and Yue appeared before Aang. _"Hello Aang. Good to see you made it back to your body."_

Here Yue had a more spiritual appearance to it, her body made of the pale moonlight and wreathed in white mists. Aang gestured between her and Kenobi. "Yue, this is Kenobi. Kenobi, this is Yue."

" _Pleased to meet you,"_ Yue said, making a polite bow.

" _It's my pleasure,"_ Kenobi said, returning the gesture. _"Aang tells me you have a unique perspective on matters in this solar system."_

" _I see everything in front of the full moon,"_ Yue clarified. She turned toward Aang, having something for him to hear. _"One of those big ships left a few hours ago. The other four are still there, including the biggest one. Those are still hovering over the Earth Kingdom."_

" _The admiral in command must think that one Star Destroyer is no longer needed,"_ Kenobi figured. _"This could be a chance to lure the Empire into a false sense of security. Let them divert resources elsewhere, and strike when they are weakest."_

"If we had a way to strike those ships up there," Aang muttered.

" _There's more,"_ Yue said. _"A lot of transports are going back and forth between one of those ships and Earth, bringing their men down and taking people from the cities up there. But I can't tell what they're doing with them."_

" _I would say they are conscripts,"_ Kenobi said. _"But here, with these abilities your people have, it is more likely they are being used for experiments."_

"They want to figure out how bending works," Aang said. "Could they succeed?"

" _We have no way of knowing,"_ Kenobi admitted. _"If the abilities are purely biological in nature, it would be theoretically possible. But I sense a spiritual aspect at work, something more than just the physical control of the elements. That makes recreating the abilities… complicated."_

" _It would be easier to convince benders to join them,"_ Yue said. _"Either way, we can't let them exploit bending for their own purposes."_

" _Agreed,"_ Kenobi said. _"We must strike before they can achieve that goal."_

"How?" Aang asked. "We don't have anything that can reach those ships."

" _You don't,"_ Kenobi said. He started fading away. _"Someone else does…"_

* * *

It was difficult to find sleep in a crowded transport, sitting shoulder to shoulder with so many others, but Luke found a way to manage it and sleep during the ride back to Hoth. He dreamed of memories from the last few days, jumbled and warped and very much out of order. Various times he could have drowned threatened to turn his dreams into nightmares, yet the memory of Katara's presence kept the nightmares from manifesting. In the dream she seemed more powerful than in the waking world, subjecting an entire ocean to her beck and call.

At the best part the dream began to fade, but was not replaced by another dream. Luke found himself in a dark gray void, filled with thick mists that enveloped him. It was not a place he had ever been to, and part of his dreaming mind realized that he shouldn't be dreaming this place. The mists parted in front of him, and a shadowy figure appeared and walked towards him. Luke couldn't tell who it was at first, yet was certain that there was nothing to fear. Soon the figure walked into the light, and Luke couldn't be happier.

"Ben?" Luke questioned. "You're alive?"

Kenobi shook his head. _"Luke, I do not have much time. There is a world that needs you. It is on the border between empires, a world called-"_

"Earth," Luke interrupted. "I've heard of it, met a few people from there too."

Surprised, Kenobi nodded in approval. _"The Empire has just sent away one of its Star Destroyers. They are not expecting an attack in space there. The locals do not have that capability, and the Empire does not suspect the rebels know of Earth's existence."_

"Leia is planning something for Earth," Luke said. "We should be carrying it out soon."

" _I would advise stealth for now,"_ Kenobi said. _"Once the Empire realizes you know of Earth, and its role in their plans of conquest, they will reinforce their armada in orbit. They will not allow Earth to slip free from their grasp."_

"They really want those benders that badly," Luke said. He noticed an odd look in Kenobi, something troubling the old man. "Or is there something more I don't know?"

" _A feeling, more like,"_ Kenobi admitted. _"The Force is strong on Earth. It flows there in a way unfamiliar to me. The light side is personified there, yet the dark side is not. I do not know what this means for the Force as a whole, just that I get a bad feeling from it."_

"I'll keep that in mind," Luke promised. He felt something change, and he saw Kenobi start to fade away. "What's going on?"

Kenobi knew. _"You're waking up."_

Abruptly Luke was back in the crowded transport, fully awake and aware of everything around him. The transport had just landed and its doors were opening, allowing everyone inside to get up and make their way outside. Already the dreams Luke had were fading away, except for the last one that lingered on. For a moment he wondered if that had really been Kenobi, speaking to him from beyond the grave through his dreams. Regardless, Luke stood up and walked for the exit, barely noticing Katara right behind him.

"Are you okay?" Katara asked. She noticed that Luke looked tired, despite getting more sleep than she did during the trip. "You looked like you saw a ghost."

Just outside the transport was the hangar of Echo Base, and there Luke stopped and turned back toward Katara. "On your world, do you have anything that would be light personified?"

Katara stopped and had to think on that, wondering why Luke would ask such a thing. "Well if you think of light as goodness, I suppose Aang might fit. He is the Avatar. Why do you ask?"

"Just a hunch," Luke said. He resumed his walk and Katara followed into the base. "Come on. We don't want to keep Leia waiting."

* * *

" _It is done."_

The voice of Kenobi stirred Aang from slumber, and the first thing he saw was the old man. Aang had fallen asleep not long after Kenobi left, and now it was well past sunrise. Kori was already making a small breakfast over a fire, the last thing to do before heading out of this forest. Yue was nowhere to be found of course, the full moon being nowhere in sight during the day. Kenobi seemed to be a little more transparent than usual, barely seen in the light of the morning sun. Aang stretched his arms and legs, yawned loud enough to wake the dead, and stood up to face Kenobi.

"What exactly did you do?" Aang asked. "You were kind of vague about it last night."

" _I made contact with someone in the rebel alliance,"_ Kenobi answered. _"When you meet them, ask for the name Skywalker."_

Picturing someone literally walking on the sky got Aang to smile. "Sounds like my kind of guy."

" _He is gifted in the Force, though still untrained in its ways,"_ Kenobi said. _"It is that gift that allows Skywalker to see me, and allows me to share information between the two of you."_

"So you're our own personal interstellar courier," Aang summarized. "It's something we didn't have before, so I'll take it."

That remark got Kori's attention, and she walked over with a hot meal for Aang. "Did I hear you right? You're invisible friend can get the word out to people in space?"

"Yup, and this one in particular fights against the Empire too," Aang said. "Thanks to Kenobi, we should be able to coordinate those rebels and our rebels to do some serious damage."

" _That may prove difficult in the long run,"_ Kenobi said. _"It was…_ taxing _, to force contact. I do not know how often I will be able to do it, or what effect it may have on me if I do it too much."_

"So we save it for the important stuff," Aang said.

Kenobi nodded. _"That would be wise."_

"Is there anything else I should know?" Aang asked.

" _Skywalker was already aware of Earth and the Empire's presence here,"_ Kenobi said. _"The rebels are on their way, though he does not know how they are going to act."_

That put Aang in good spirits. "That's great news!"

"What is great news?" Kori asked.

Aang turned towards her. "Help is on the way."

* * *

"You're certain of this?"

Leia was understandably skeptical of what Luke had told her, given that it could not be verified by any other available intel. Luke relayed the news he heard in a dream, something he would only admit to close friends. It still seemed very unlikely to be true, even if Luke had faith in Kenobi's words. Leia needed more than the voice of a dead man to go on, especially for a delicate mission she was preparing. She had to plan for what she knew for certain, that Death Squadron was still orbiting Earth with its full complement of Star Destroyers.

"I am certain," Luke said. "It will be easier to sneak past them now."

"Easy is relative around a Super Star Destroyer," Leia pointed out. "In any case, it's the _Executor_ we need to worry about. One Star Destroyer being missing won't make much of a difference."

"I presume you've already got something in mind?" Luke asked.

"Of course," Leia said. "Han took scans of the planet as he left Earth. I think I've found a way to get you in undetected. It shouldn't be as difficult as what you pulled off on Kamino."

"Yeah, that wasn't exactly a picnic," Luke said. "So, who's on the mission?"

"You, Katara, Sokka, Han and Chewie," Leia answered.

"Han's back already?" Luke questioned. "I thought he had some super-secret thing to deal with?"

"He just wanted everyone to think that," Leia said. "Really, Han was just taking care of old debts. He owed a lot of people a lot of money."

"Oh, okay," Luke said. "When do we leave?"

"When Sokka and 3PO get back from their mission," Leia answered.

That improved Katara's mood even more. "He'll be happy to hear that."

"Of course he will," Leia said. "Now go get some rest. You're going to need it before you leave."

Katara nodded. "Will do."

Leia watched Katara leave the room, and now it was only her and Luke left inside. "Is there something else?"

Luke made sure that Katara was gone, and then he turned back to Leia. "I'm surprised you're sending both of them back. I figured you'd want to keep at least one waterbender around here."

"You're going to need guides on Earth," Leia said. She got up and started heading for the door. "And you're probably going to need both of them."

* * *

Another night came on Earth, but this time Aang didn't need to stay up all night for a midnight message. But while he did not need to be awake, Aang couldn't get himself to fall asleep. He couldn't stop thinking about the news Kenobi had brought him, the news that help was on its way. Unlike the other times aliens had promised good intentions, this time Aang had a feeling in his gut saying that it was legitimate. For the first time in months things were finally turning for the better, and Aang couldn't wait to see how things would play out.

Lying down with his head facing the night sky, Aang's eyes were wide open and looking at the stars. To think that searching for spirit help had brought space help instead, it got Aang wondering if the universe had a sense of irony. He still felt a little bitter about the spirits that wouldn't help him, as if they owed nothing to the physical world and the people living in it. Yet a dead man from worlds away had come to help, driven by his conscience and a desire to do good even after death. That would have to be enough, and Aang could settle for that much.

Still, that didn't make Aang feel better about the spirits, bitter over their refusal to help. "Who needs them anyway…"

* * *

Meanwhile, in a deep part of the spirit world, someone watched the happenings in the physical world. He resided in a barren waste where few spirits dared to tread, a place devoid of life in nearly all forms. The sole exception was a large tree older beyond measure, its hollow trunk and gnarled branches standing still since time immemorial. Though he remained trapped in this tree for nearly an entire age, he was aware of the world in spite of his prison. He knew that the Avatar had wanted help from spirits, and had gotten it from a different kind of spirit.

" **So that's the way it will be,"** this ancient spirit said to himself. He gazed into another part of the physical world, centered on a warrior clad in black and fused with machinery. **"Two can play at this game, Raava."**


	21. Dark Voyage

Chapter 21: Dark Voyage

A red lightsaber pierced a rebel's chest.

Darth Vader watched the life fade from the poor fool's eyes, the last one to fall by his blade today. He shut off his lightsaber and dropped the rebel onto a pile of bodies, most of them in cauterized pieces. It had only taken him ten minutes to clear out this rebel safe house, located inside an asteroid surprisingly close to the core worlds. Subterfuge and a little bit of Force trickery had gotten him inside, and he had proceeded to exterminate the rebels without damaging the safe house. There was certain to be something of value here, enough to warrant taking the safe house intact.

Finished with the messy work, Darth Vader radioed a Star Destroyer lurking just beyond the safe house's sensor range. " _Relentless_ , the rebels have been neutralized. Dispatch an inspection team immediately." Vader nudged a severed limb with his boot. "Send a cleanup crew. I have made a mess."

Not bothering to wait for the teams to arrive, Darth Vader left the safe house through an airlock. That led back into the vacuum of space, but that did not matter to his cybernetic life support. He simply leapt off the asteroid and into microgravity, using the Force to guide his trajectory. His personal TIE fighter was still where he left it, orbiting the asteroid with all systems powered down. The access hatch was open and Darth Vader drifted into it, the Force making sure he did not miss. Once inside he closed the hatch and got into the pilot's seat, booting up the systems and preparing to leave.

Once the engines were running the tie fighter quickly flew off into space, soon passing a couple of transports flying in the opposite direction. Up ahead was the Star Destroyer _Relentless_ , slowly cruising toward the asteroid now that it didn't need to remain out of sensor range. Darth Vader gave the _Relentless_ a wide berth, making it clear that he wasn't going to board it. Despite that clear message a transmission was still sent to him, and Darth Vader was tempted to ignore it and go about his business elsewhere.

Still, proper courtesy demanded he answer, and he pressed the button to do so. "Yes."

" _Priority message for you sir, it came with the highest security codes."_

"Put it through," Vader ordered. His tie fighter received the message, verified the security codes, and secured the transmission link. A small hologram appeared, and Darth Vader recognized the person. "Cylo, what do you want?"

" _Your expertise,"_ Cylo answered. _"I am running experiments on subjects with supernatural abilities. I'm told you are aware of them. Results have been elusive to say the least. I believe your point of view in these matters would be most insightful."_

"I will set course for Earth immediately," Vader said, already prepping for the hyperspace jump.

" _Not Earth,"_ Cylo said. _"I took some test subjects off world for my experiments. The_ Tyrant _has returned to Coruscant so I can use the facilities there."_

"Very well," Vader said, entering the proper coordinates into the hyperdrive. "I will be there soon."

* * *

Toph wasn't sure what happened, but everyone among her fellow captives was in much better health.

For a while there everyone was feeling sick in one form or another, from the earthbenders separated from the Earth to the firebenders and sole waterbender suddenly feeling ill all at once. It had lasted for a day and a half, during such time several of them overheard their captors talking about taking a trip back home. When it was over the firebenders felt their strength return, and the waterbender felt better than ever before. The earthbenders had to wait a while longer, until they were taken off this ship and brought somewhere else.

The captives had been sedated during transport, and were coming out of it inside a large laboratory. Toph found herself inside a sealed chamber, the walls several feet thick and forged from metal purer than she had ever encountered. Try as she might to get a better view through vibrations, Toph couldn't see far enough to find solid ground. Over half a dozen floors were in view below her, with no sign of any foundations within range. Toph figured they had to be very high above the ground, in a building so tall it must cast an enormous shadow.

Eventually Toph got tired of waiting and started pounding on a wall. "If you're going to do something, do it already!"

In a room on the far end of the skyscraper, a curious general watched through a video feed. "You heard the little lady. Let's get on with the test."

Suddenly the chamber dropped through the building, sliding down a shaft to a lower level. At the bottom one of the chamber's walls slid to the side, opening an adjacent chamber three levels high and twice as wide across. All sorts of dirt and stone were scattered about, tempting ammunition for Toph to exploit. But she saw something else nearby, in another chamber opposite from the one she was in. A massive beast was waiting behind another wall, all but certain to be released the moment Toph went for the dirt and stone.

The general watching didn't want to wait. "Release the rancor."

The far wall slid into the floor, and the beast within walked into the larger chamber. Well over thirty feet tall, the rancor stomped ahead on its relatively stunted legs. Almost comically long arms nearly dragged on the floor, reaching out for anything the rancor could eat. A large mouth hung open, waiting for fresh meat to consume. The rancor saw and smelled the only other living thing around, the little girl at the opposite end of the chamber. So it walked in the girl's direction, its simple mind expecting an easy meal.

If the beast was going to eat her, Toph would make sure it had to work for it. "Come and get it."

Toph hurried to the nearest mass of dirt and stone, which she earthbent into a solid boulder twice her size. She punched to propel that boulder into the rancor's head, hitting with enough force to tip the beast backward. But the rancor quickly recovered, and resumed its walk toward Toph. She made more boulders and hurled them at the rancor, slowing it down but not enough to stop it. Soon the rancor was right over her, reaching down with one long arm. Toph leapt forward and in between the rancor's legs, and hurled a boulder up into a universally sensitive spot.

The rancor groaned from that particular blow, and Toph got behind the beast while it was recovering. She gathered as much rock as she could underneath her feet, creating a mound of rock half the rancor's height. Toph jumped from there and landed on the rancor's back, finding a soft spot just below the beast's skull. She earthbent a piece of the rock mound to her and shaped it into a dome, stopping the rancor's hands from grabbing her. Then she took some rock and made stone gauntlets over her fists, and proceeded to punch the soft spot over and over.

A loud and painful roar echoed in the chamber, nearly deafening to Toph's ears. The rancor lurched backward and flailed about, trying to shake off the source of the pain. Both large hands grabbed the stone dome protecting Toph, which cracked and crumbled when the rancor squeezed. The broken pieces pressed against Toph as the rancor took hold, squeezing both stone and flesh as it pulled its tightening fist forward. The rancor held Toph in front of itself, and then tossed its entire handful into its mouth.

Toph pulled the pieces of stone around herself, covering every bit of her body as she passed between the rancor's jaws. The rancor swallowed her and the stone shell whole, and gagged when she got lodged in its throat. There Toph broke the stone shell into sharp pieces and sent them outward, tearing through soft flesh and ripping the rancor's throat to ribbons. She fell through the resulting hole and hit the ground, drenched in a torrent of blood pouring from the rancor's neck. Toph quickly got up and moved out from beneath the rancor, expecting it to collapse any second.

Despite the severity of the wound, it took a while for the rancor to die. It took a few steps backward, clutching at its throat to no avail. The rancor's roars grew weaker with each passing second, gradually replaced by gurgling blood in its throat. The rancor fell forward and crashed face first, lying very still and quiet in a growing pool of its own blood. Toph didn't relax until the rancor's heart stopped beating, and the flow of blood came to a quiet stop. She let out a breath she had been holding, and wiped some of the rancor's blood off her face.

Toph stood up tall, and shook the blood off her hand. "Got anything else?"

The general watching was very impressed. "Let's find something bigger."

* * *

It was a short trip to Coruscant through hyperspace, and the planet was a welcome sight when Darth Vader returned to normal space. The planet resembled a sparkling jewel hanging in the void, the lights of countless buildings shining bright on both day and night sides. An entire fleet of Star Destroyers was in orbit above Coruscant, an ever present protection from threats to the Empire. Darth Vader flew his tie fighter past the _Tyrant_ , currently flying in geostationary orbit above his destination. It was a slow but steep descent into the atmosphere, heading straight toward a state of the art scientific facility.

After transmitting the proper identification codes, a small landing pad was made available for Darth Vader's use. He landed his tie fighter on the top of a tall skyscraper, and he quickly got out of his ship and set foot on solid metal. Darth Vader took a moment to look at the skyline, appreciating the beauty of a city after so being away from civilization for so long. Afterward Darth Vader entered an elevator and it took him into the building, heading down to one of the middle levels where the main lab was located.

The elevator doors opened and Darth Vader walked into the lab, noticing all the scientists getting really quiet while he passed them by. They were working on various biological samples, attempting to extract whatever gene sequences enabled supernatural abilities. He sensed frustration from nearly all of them, and he figured they were no closer to having the answer. He saw Cylo at the far end of the lab, observing the dissection of a specimen that did not survive the trip here. Cylo noticed the sudden silence, turned around to see Darth Vader approaching, and gestured for him to follow.

"I appreciate you coming on such short notice," Cylo said. "Your insight will be most invaluable."

"What have you discovered so far?" Darth Vader asked.

"Very little," Cyclo admitted. He led Vader to another part of the lab, where two other scientists were examining genetic code sequences. "There is a base pair sequence that we haven't been able to identify. But our efforts to decode this sequence have been inconclusive."

"I have little interest in genetic engineering," Darth Vader said. "Get to the point."

"Scientific answers still elude us," Cylo said. "Supernatural answers, on the other hand, are your area of expertise."

"They do not use the Force, if that is what you suspect," Darth Vader said. He followed Cylo into an observation room, where they could see a few prisoners from behind thick two way glass. "They use something else for their power."

"Whatever 'something' is, it must not exist in hyperspace," Cylo said. "None of their powers worked during the trip here. Most were restored when we arrived, but the earthbenders weren't restored until they were brought down here."

"Interesting," Darth Vader said. His gaze settled on a few of the prisoners. "That makes containment… easier…"

"Vader?" Cylo said, noticing the way he trailed off. "Is something the matter?"

"They are different from before," Darth Vader answered. He placed one hand on the two way glass, reaching through to feel with the Force. "There is, slightly more to them here."

Cylo looked at those prisoners, earthbenders that were in their best physical condition since leaving Earth. "So there's more to it than just hyperspace. Where they are has an effect on their powers."

"I have seen this before," Darth Vader said. "Their waterbenders claimed to be stronger when they were in orbit. They believed it was because they were closer to their moon."

"Yes, I've read that report," Cylo said. "Unfortunately, the one waterbender we brought with us hasn't been fit for experimentation."

"You can always return to Earth for more," Darth Vader said. He had another experiment in mind. "Bring some of them to Carida. I want to see what effect that world may have on them."

Well aware of the conditions on that planet, Cylo knew where Darth Vader was going. "As you wish."

* * *

"Where are we going this time?"

Toph knew she wasn't going to get an answer, though it still felt good to complain. The imperials had seen fit to put her out again, and when she awoke she was back on a Star Destroyer and her bending was gone. Judging by the state of the firebender prisoners, the ship was traveling across the galaxy again. Toph was certain there had to be a reason for being moved again, and she doubted it was because of her killing one of their pets. All she could do now was wait and wonder where they were going, having nothing to kill the time.

Upon arrival the firebenders regained their power, and Toph felt their reaction despite the walls in between them. "Finally!"

Toph punched the floor to amplify the vibrations, pushing her sight to its limit. It stretched far enough to see stormtroopers preparing specialized equipment, though for what purpose Toph couldn't possibly guess. Some of them seemed to actually be a little worried, and it got Toph wondering what would have these stormtroopers spooked. She would get to find out soon, knowing that when vents in the walls pumped gas into the cell to knock her out again. Toph made a rude gesture, keeping it until her vision went black.

Sometime later she woke up, feeling a mix of sensations while lying face first on hard ground. "Ugh… what the… what kind of place is this?"

It was a struggle just to turn her head, feeling like someone's foot was pressing down on it. Yet there was nothing on top of her, and her muscles burned when she tried to move. She managed to pull her arms in and push off the ground, lifting her torso up a foot and relieving the pressure on her ribs. Toph turned around and got to a sitting position, already out of breath from moving a body that felt nearly twice as heavy. It took some will to overcome the weight, but slowly Toph managed to stand up and take a few steps.

The vibrations painted a strange picture for Toph to see. "What rabaroo hole did I fall into?"

Though the ground itself seemed like any old soil, albeit squashed into thinner layers, the things standing on the ground were very much alien. Exotic trees and bushes were growing out of the ground, but their trunks and leaves were shorter while their roots were anchored deep below the surface. Strange animals were moving around at a deliberately slow pace, all walking on four limbs that were thick with muscle. There was no sign of any birds standing on branches or the ground, and no sounds of anything alive flying in the air.

Further away Toph saw small buildings, but made from very dense material that held up under tons of weight. She couldn't even begin to imagine the engineering involved, even with her view of the very solid foundations. Toph also saw some people inside those buildings, their bodies adapted to deal with weighing well over five hundred pounds. She certainly could imagine how strong they would be in a normal place, far more than anyone she ever knew, and yet even they would seem weak in a place like this.

"What is this, heavy world?" Toph complained. Still, despite being weighed down by her own flesh, Toph felt better than she had been in months. "What are you guys trying to prove?"

Sure enough a few people came out, wearing imperial uniforms and wielding blasters smaller than the norm. "Stay back. We will open fire if you come closer."

"Not that I could if I wanted to," Toph grumbled. She lifted up her fists, arm muscles needing to work for it, and she slowly flexed her fingers. "In case you haven't noticed, it's hard for me to move."

"That's the point," the imperial said.

"Doesn't make much sense," Toph said. "What do you gain from putting me here? You already have a pretty good way of keeping me locked up. Why bother with making me twice as heavy?"

Course, one answer quickly sprang to mind. It was another one of that weird scientist's experiments, that much was clear. Toph didn't dwell on that for very long, instead wanting to take what little payback she could get. She planted her feet, clenched her fists, and swung her left arm up. In front of her the ground shattered, dozens of large pieces flying up and away from her, slamming into the imperials and crushing them instantly. And the ground kept on breaking apart further away, far beyond what Toph had meant to do.

Shattering ground hit the small building's foundations, and the whole thing collapsed in on itself. Toph's jaw hung open, and she held her fist in front of her face. "Huh… so that's why they brought me here."

As if to confirm her realization, Toph heard something in the distance. It sounded like large metal doors opening, their screeching echoing far and wide, promising the release of something very dangerous. It was followed by a loud and hungry roar, similar to one she had heard recently but with a deeper boom to its voice. She felt tremors in the ground set to the rhythm of slow footsteps, enhancing her vibration sight and letting her see further away. Toph prepared herself for a fight, certain that something big and scary was coming for her.

Soon the source of the vibrations came into view, and she recognized the beast coming her way. It was another rancor, similar to what she fought on that other planet, but breed for survival on a high gravity world. It had denser bones to support its body, stronger muscles to move those bones, and a shorter stature for stability. Toph saw it all long before the rancor arrived, certain to be harder to defeat, no small part due to her handicap here. Still she wasn't going to back down, not like that was an option here anyway.

"A rematch huh," Toph muttered. She got into her favorite earthbending stance, but found it hard to maintain with her arms so heavy. "Bring it on."

The rancor smelled food, and it charged with surprising speed. Toph swung an arm up to raise a wall, got one twenty feet higher than she wanted, only for the rancor to break it down and keep on going. The rancor reached Toph and reached down to grab her, but Toph jumped and rolled out of the way. Hitting the ground harder than usual left small bruises everywhere, and Toph retaliated for that by earthbending a massive stone spike. It went up right in between the rancor's legs, skewering the beast all the way up to its head.

Toph patiently waited for the beast to die, hearing its dying breaths quickly go silent. When it happened Toph dropped onto her rear end, her legs very sore and unwilling to hold her up any longer. Out of breath and struggling to get it back, Toph was exhausted after even that short excursion. She fell back further and laid down on the ground, wanting nothing more than to take a nap. It was quite infuriating to be worn out so quickly, and she hated this heavy world more and more. And her troubles weren't over yet, as she soon saw through the vibrations.

"Come on…" Toph complained. She struggled to get back up, needed a few tries to do it, and got ready for another fight. "More of them?"

* * *

Watching from the comfort of normal gravity aboard the _Tyrant_ , Darth Vader observed Toph's struggle with high gravity. Carida was a planet with nearly twice the mass of a typical terrestrial world, and so the _Tyrant_ had to use a far higher orbit to avoid falling into its relatively immense gravity well. The Empire used Carida as training ground for stormtroopers, the high gravity providing much needed experience in adapting to new environments. Now it served a different purpose, and had already proven the theory Darth Vader had when he suggested coming here.

"She draws strength from the planet," Darth Vader said. He kept his gaze on a monitor in this observation room, not bothering to look at Cylo standing nearby. "It seems that a bigger planet has more for her to draw from. It has increased her power considerably."

"Yes, but she's having difficulty using it," Cylo said. He saw how she got worn out after one rancor, albeit one she had slain far faster than on Coruscant. "The high gravity is wearing her out quickly."

"She hasn't adapted yet," Darth Vader said. "When she does, her power will reach new heights."

Cylo pressed a few buttons to switch video feeds, looking at several other earthbenders in turn, each having similar experiences with increased power but reduced mobility. "We've confirmed your theory. It's time to rein them in, before they try to escape."

"Not just yet," Darth Vader insisted. He switched the video feet back to Toph, who now had three rancors surrounding her. "I want to see this."

To be fair, Cylo was curious as well. "As you wish."

However, it seemed she wasn't willing to put on a show for her captors. As the rancors closed in Toph earthbent the ground she was lying on, making it sink several dozen meters beneath the surface. It also shattered the ground around the part that sank, leaving the rancors on unstable footing and making them fall forward, colliding with each other on top of Toph's little hole. As a result their bodies concealed Toph from view, and she didn't reappear somewhere else. And when the rancors finally moved out of the way the hole was sealed, its creator having gone completely underground.

"Huh…" Cylo muttered. "Not what I thought she would do."

"She won't get far," Darth Vader said. "There's a layer of metal underneath the surface. She has no power over it."

* * *

"Of course there is…"

Toph had found the layer metal very quickly, and it stretched outward in every direction. After clearing all the rock and dirt out of her way, Toph had her hands and knees on the metal blocking her path. Now she understood why her captors had set her loose, the assumption being that she wouldn't be able to escape. The metal appeared to be the roof of an ancient bunker, built on a massive scale before being forgotten and buried by time. Toph could see empty passages on the other side, exactly what she needed to get out of here.

"Got to get inside," Toph muttered. She put her hands on the metal, feeling for impurities within. "Great, more of this crap."

The metal was more of the same highly refined material Toph discovered aboard a Star Destroyer, with hardly any impurities to speak of. The surface was pitted and rusted all over, evidence of corrosion over centuries of time, but only corrupting the outer inch of metal. Beneath the corroded spots the metal was still pure, a testament to the forging techniques that made the metal so pure. Toph couldn't help but admire it a little, appreciating the craftsmanship of the metal, even if it was a problem standing in her way.

Toph chose to take it as a challenge, for it certainly was that for her. It was also a chance to finally use a technique she had created during the year before the Empire arrived at Earth, a technique designed specifically to deal with people putting her in metal prisons. Through the vibrations she searched for cracks and weak spots in the metal, anything she could use to get started on her technique. She didn't have a lot of opportunities to practice until now, but this was the time to put to the test the theory of metalbending.

"There," Toph muttered, finding what she needed. "Okay, this should work."

With slight finger flexing Toph earthbent some dirt to her, and forced it into the cracks and pits in the surface of the metal. Using the increased power to her earthbending, Toph made the dirt seep into the metal and vanish beneath the surface. Then she clenched both fists and pulled them back, beckoning the dirt she'd put into the metal. The surface of the metal was torn asunder, sharp fragments flying around Toph and getting stuck in the dirt. Now a few inches thinner, the metal was somewhat weaker, and Toph was grinning like a mad girl.

"Sweet!" Toph said. She cracked her knuckles and got back to work. "Needs work, but I'll take it!"

It took a few more tries to peel away all of the metal, needing to force more dirt into the metal each time to make it bendable. Soon enough she made a hole big enough to fit through, opening the way into the bunker below. Toph didn't dare drop through the hole and break a limb on impact, so instead she took the scrap metal and made a crude slide with, using it to slide down safely. It still hurt when she hit the next floor down, landing harder than she wanted to. But it did get her inside the bunker, and the momentary safety it offered.

"There," Toph grumbled. She walked a few feet down a dust covered corridor she'd broken into, and then lied down on the old dirty floor. "This isn't getting any easier."

* * *

"She has exceeded expectations."

Darth Vader was most impressed, and certainly intrigued by that little girl's ingenuity. Of all the earthbenders observed in Carida's environment, that girl was the only one to obtain some measure of safety. The rest had all been recaptured and brought back aboard the _Tyrant_ , easy to do after they had worn themselves out in the high gravity. The girl had found a way to get through the underground metal, something no one aboard the _Tyrant_ had expected. It would take some time to reach her down there, but there was no urgent need to do so.

Cylo, on the other hand, was more interested in analyzing the data gathered today. "In more ways than one, she has. We can use her accomplishments here to convince other earthbenders to work with us. The promise of power can go a long way to making people do what we want."

Darth Vader nodded, knowing that motivation very well. "Others would be preferable to use. The ones we have now, there will be no convincing them. Especially this one, she is beyond our control."

"We still need to contain her," Cylo said. He looked away from the data and toward Vader. "It will be a lot harder to do that after she acclimates to the gravity and masters her increased power."

"Do as you wish with that matter," Darth Vader said. In the grand scheme of things, leaving her loose on Carida was a minor concern. If metal walls wouldn't hold her, the planet surface certainly would. "It no longer concerns me."

"And what will you be doing?" Cylo asked.

"I still have other matters to attend to," Darth Vader answered. He turned away and head for the door, but stopped at the threshold. "You have your data, make good use of it."

Darth Vader left the room, leaving Cylo along to handle his tasks his way. Darth Vader passed through the bridge, observed the crew doing their jobs, and left without saying a word. He considered heading for his personal tie fighter, brought aboard the _Tyrant_ before leaving Coruscant, but decided to delay his departure. He was overdue for regular maintenance of his cybernetics, and the _Tyrant_ had the facilities needed for that task. So he headed for the quarters reserved for his use, where very few besides himself dared to enter.

Inside those quarters a spherical room opened, split horizontally with the top half moving up. Darth Vader went inside and it closed around him, cutting off all sensation from outside. He sat down and allowed specialized machines to work, removing the detachable parts of his body to make repairs. It was a painful process to endure, just as bad now as it had been the first time. But pain was good, pain reminded him that he was still alive, that there was still enough man within the machine to be truly alive.

During the maintenance Darth Vader reached out to the Force, letting it replace the sensations of physical reality. Though as vague as ever, the Force remained his greatest asset. Today he sensed something unfamiliar within the Force, an ancient presence that had laid dormant for millennia. Curious, Darth Vader reached for it, and in turn the ancient presence reached for him. In his mind's eye Darth Vader saw a dark red visage, a single eye looking out from the middle. Words were lost in this meeting through the Force, but the meaning remained intact.

When he returned to the waking world, Darth Vader knew where he needed to be.

"Earth…"


	22. Earthbound

Chapter 22: Earthbound

A pale blue dot had never looked so precious before.

Reunited siblings once again, Sokka and Katara saw how the Earth looked from the edge of the solar system. The _Millennium Falcon_ had emerged from hyperspace near a blue gas giant planet, noteworthy only for spinning on its side relative to its orbit. Automatic filters in the cockpit windows removed the glare of the sun, allowing a clear view of the system during the approach. From this far away Earth was no bigger than the tiniest dot, its pale blue color barely visible against the black of space. Yet everyone they cared about was on that pale blue dot, and they were finally heading home.

Having just gotten back from his personal business, Han Solo hadn't been eager for a mission. "Appreciate the view while you can. When we get there you won't have time to sightsee."

Just as it did over half a year ago, the _Millennium Falcon_ coasted into the system. The gas giants had moved since then, but were still roughly aligned enough to cover parts of their course from sensors in Earth orbit. That course allowed Sokka and Katara to see the planets up close, marveling at the wonders in their own backyard. Between the grand rings of one world and the massive behemoth that was another, this trip was worth it just for those alone. Katara wished they could have come under different circumstances, for she could have spent a lifetime exploring the myriad of moons orbiting the planets.

After passing by the largest planet, Luke walked in and stood in the cockpit's entryway. "Are the Star Destroyers in sensor range yet?"

"Not without telling them we're here," Han said. He had the sensors in passive mode, which weren't as detailed as active scans but also wouldn't give them away. "We should see them after the next planet."

In the months since the last visit, the fourth planet had moved to a more convenient part of its orbit. Now the small red world was in between the gas giants and Earth, allowing one last chance to approach in stealth. The _Millennium Falcon_ was just small enough for that to work, anything bigger would have been exposed behind the small planet. Soon they entered orbit around the red planet and shut down all unnecessary power, reducing the odds of imperial scanners detecting them there. The _Falcon_ coasted around its leading hemisphere, allowing a glimpse at Earth slightly further ahead in its orbit.

From here Earth was a tiny blue marble, so close and yet still very far to Sokka's eyes. "Almost there."

"And we have them on sensors," Han reported, ignoring Sokka's homesick remark. "One Super Star Destroyer, three regular Star Destroyers, and still where they are supposed to be."

"Did we get here too early?" Katara asked.

"We're on schedule," Han said. "Now we wait and see if her highness stirred up a big enough ruckus."

Half a galaxy away, the rebels began several simultaneous raids in several different systems, coordinated to create as much chaos as possible within the Empire. With any luck it would require mobilization of the entire imperial fleet to deal with them, regardless of whatever assignments they currently had. It would take time for new orders to pass through the chain of command, especially so regarding ships deployed along the edges of imperial space. Still, these ships were Death Squadron, and would certainly be better utilized fighting rebels instead of occupying one particular world.

When the orders finally reached this remote sector of space, Han knew it on sight. "See, there they go."

Two ships broke away from the others, turning away from Earth and facing imperial space. The Super Star Destroyer flew in front of its smaller companion, putting some distance between them and the planet before making the jump to hyperspace. The remaining two Star Destroyers moved to higher orbits, better allocating the reduced number of sensors available to monitor the planet surface. Their commanding officers resented being left behind when there were battles being fought, but complied with orders to remain here.

"Well that's a relief," Luke said, noting which ships had left. "The big one would have been a problem."

"It is now for which squadron gets to deal with it," Han said. He turned his seat around to look at the guides to this planet. "Alright you two, where do you want to land?"

* * *

"Did… did it just leave?"

Aang had trouble believing his eyes, especially when what they saw seemed too good to be true. The largest of the imperial ships in orbit could be seen from the ground, and Aang just saw it shrink and fade away in the light blue morning sky. But for all he knew it had been replaced by several of the regular variety, which were too small to be seen down here. Still, having that monstrosity of a ship gone was a relief, just so he wouldn't have to look at it on cloudless days. Aang realized something had to be going on for that ship to leave, though he had no idea what it was.

Next to him Kenobi appeared, looking up at the now empty sky. _"You seem surprised."_

"I got to admit, I wasn't sure if this would actually happen," Aang said. He turned and looked Kenobi in the eye. "I only had your word to go on for this."

" _That's fair,"_ Kenobi conceded. His eyes followed something too small to see, heading down toward the southern horizon. _"Your guests will be arriving shortly."_

"You're certain?" Aang asked.

Kenobi nodded. _"Luke is aboard their ship."_

Aang followed Kenobi's line of sight, and then turned back to a campsite set up nearby. "Alright everyone, we need to move out."

After the imperial airstrike on their underground hideout, the resistance fighters had gradually coalesced around Aang and Kori in the forests around Yu Dao. In anticipation of relocating to another area, they had already moved their camp to the edge of the forest. Some of them were already packing up camp, getting ready to move out yet again. Aang's order got them to pack up faster, and in ten minutes they were ready to leave. Aang picked the direction, Kori gave the marching orders, and the resistance fighters left the forest behind.

As they traveled Kori walked beside Aang, both of them at the front leading the way. "I'm having a good feeling about this. Are you having a good feeling about this?"

Aang thought about it, smiled, and nodded. "Yes, yes I am."

* * *

The _Millennium Falcon_ descended toward the southern hemisphere, avoiding the remaining Star Destroyers in orbit over the northern half of the planet. Sokka pointed to a spot near the southern shore of the main continent, though it took him time to recognize it from space. He had hoped it would be like looking at a map, but the reality was very different from his expectations. For one he couldn't see any of the roads or borders a map would have, only the cities large enough to stick out amongst the natural terrain.

Fortunately he could see a mountain range north of the coastline, which served until they got close enough to see smaller landmarks. The _Millennium Falcon_ descended to the altitude of the lowest peaks, weaving in between the taller mountains while Sokka looked for the right place. After passing the fifth mountain Sokka spotted a familiar valley, and he pointed in the direction they needed to go. A few more mountains went by, and Sokka pointed to one that wasn't very different from the others. Of course, it was supposed to look like any other mountain.

Unable to land on steep terrain, the _Millennium Falcon_ had to land in a valley beside the mountain. Fortunately that landing site would hide the ship from every side except from above, and there weren't any imperial ships in the sky above this part of the continent. The _Falcon_ 's entry ramp opened up, allowing the passengers to disembark. Chewbacca remained inside the ship, both to guard the ship and because his presence would be counterproductive. Everyone else exited the ship, setting foot on solid ground and breathing in the fresh air.

Outside Katara stretched her limbs and took in a deep breath, taking a moment to soak in the sunlight. "It's good to be home."

Right next to his sister, Sokka nodded. "To be honest, I wasn't sure we'd ever make it back."

"Enough with the feelings," Han said. To him this world was just another rock in the backwaters of the galaxy. "We still have a job to do."

"Right," Sokka said. He turned and pointed to a nearby dirt trail. "It won't take us long to get there from here. That will take us right to it."

"Well then, lead the way," Han said.

Last one out of the _Falcon_ , Luke kept out of the conversation. There was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind, not a bad feeling but not a good feeling either. While Sokka took point and walked onto the dirt trail, Luke glanced to the southern horizon, currently obscured by another mountain. Luke shrugged, turned away, and followed the others down the dirt trail. At the back of the line Luke occasionally glanced south a few more times, unable to shake off the nagging feeling. He didn't say anything of course, not when there was a mission at hand.

The dirt trail led up the side of a mountain, mostly bare rock with shrubs growing out of the cracks. Fortunately they didn't have to go up all the way, only half a mile down the trail to get a quarter of the way up the mountain. Sokka stopped and looked at a wall of rock beside the trail, though there was nothing obvious different about it. He crouched and rubbed his hand against the spot where the wall touched the ground, removing loose dirt to uncover something buried. He grabbed it and stood up, showing what he found to the others.

In his hand was a pai sho tile, specifically the white lotus tile. "Good, someone's using the place."

"You're certain?" Han asked.

Sokka knocked on the wall a few times, waited a couple of seconds, and then knocked at a faster pace. He waited a little bit longer, and saw a tiny slit appear in the rock. "Who knocks at the guarded gate?"

"One who has eaten the fruit and tasted its mysteries," Sokka answered.

The tiny slit was closed, and a door sized chunk of wall slid back and then into the ground. An earthbender stood at the entrance to a tunnel, wearing a blue and white uniform instead of typical greens and browns. "Welcome brother. And take care within our sanctuary."

"We will," Sokka promised. He turned back to the others. "Come on, let's see who is home."

* * *

"What happened here?"

Aang was baffled by the scene that lay before him. The route Kori wanted to take had brought them well around the city of Yu Dao, yet they seemed to have encountered imperials anyway. Or rather they would have, if the battalion hadn't been wiped out already. However, not only had they been attacked by earthbending, some of the imperials appeared to have been shot by their own blasters. A few had been blown to pieces by the explosives they used, and those that remained in one piece had been stripped of whatever intact pieces of armor they had.

After looking at the aftermath of battle, Aang turned towards Kori. "Did you send anyone ahead of us?"

"No," Kori said. "Someone else did this. And we really should leave before more imperials show up to collect their dead."

"Yeah, and do it quickly," Aang said. "Still, whoever did this must be nearby."

"I'll have some scouts go look for them," Kori said. With some hand signals she did just that. "Believe me. I want more allies as much as you do. But we need to keep moving."

With the matter settled, the resistance fighters resumed their march. They gave the battlefield a wide berth, hoping to avoid leaving a trail that could be traced back to them. After going a few miles out of their way they returned to the road on the other side, back on course for the southern mountains. Those mountains appeared on the southern horizon by noon, and it would take the rest of the day and another to reach it. However, along the road they saw patches of loose dirt, something any skilled earthbender would recognize.

"Ambush!" Kori yelled.

The patches of loose dirt exploded into a shower of soil, creating a dust cloud that covered most of the road. A dozen earthbenders emerged from the ground, and raised another dozen firebenders along with them. They were wearing mismatched pieces of salvaged stormtrooper armor, as if there weren't enough sets to go around. Half of them were wielding pilfered blasters, while the other half stuck with bending. Stone and flames were summoned and conjured, wielded alongside the blasters, and ready to strike.

In response Kori and her earthbenders raised a thick wall of rock, surrounding the group with it while the dust shrouded their assailants. Her firebenders added a ring of fire to the wall, and were ready to strike at the ambushers. The front side of the wall was torn down by the other side's earthbending, and the ring of fire was extinguished by their firebenders. By then the dust had settled on the road, allowing both sides to see each other clearly. In just a moment it would be a bloodbath, only to be interrupted by a loud voice.

"Hold your fire!"

Recognizing that voice, Aang was surprised to hear it here. "Haru?"

Sure enough, Haru stepped forward. He had on an almost complete suit of stormtrooper armor, minus the helmet. "Hey Aang, what brings you to these parts?"

"Wait, what?" Kori blurted out. With a hand signal she ordered the others to stand down, and they were relieved that they didn't need to fight today. "You know him?"

"We met way back," Aang answered. He turned his attention back to Haru. "It's good to see you."

"Likewise," Haru said. He made a hand signal, and everyone holding a blaster put them away. "It's hard to know what everyone else is doing. We didn't even realize you and your new friends were passing through the area until now."

"Well we are in a hurry," Aang said. "Speaking of which, while I'd like to stay and catch up, we really need to get moving again."

"Oh, right, sorry," Haru said. With another signal he ordered his men to clear the road. "It must be important if the Avatar is on the move."

"You're free to come along if you want to see it yourself," Aang offered. "We can always use more help."

"Sure," Haru said. He pointed a thumb over his shoulder and down the road. "We have a camp down that way. I'll get the others and we'll catch up with you."

"Sounds good," Aang said. "See you there."

* * *

Sokka led the way into the mountain, taking the others into the secret White Lotus base. Built during the Hundred Year War, this was one of many places the secret society maintained for its members to use in an emergency. After the war the society had shared the existence of this base with the Avatar and his close companions, part of the society's efforts to help prepare for the next encounter with aliens. There had also been the matter of inducting Sokka into the society, an invitation given near the end of the war, which seemed rather quaint now.

Inside the base resembled an underground mine, with several levels carved out of solid rock. There had been some expansion since Sokka had last been here, extra levels above and below to make the illusion of a mine more complete. He figured that was to fool the way imperials saw things underground, that if they did look here all they would see was a mine and not the base inside. Sokka led the way a few levels down, passing by earthbenders that guarded the upper levels, and brought everyone to a large meeting room to find their hosts.

The meeting room was well lit, and Sokka saw someone familiar standing at the far side of a large table. "It's good to finally see you again, Dragon of the West."

Back in the role of a military general, yet still one of the society's Grand Lotuses, Iroh greeted Sokka and the others brought with him. "Welcome back. You must have quite the story to tell."

"You have no idea," Sokka said. He gestured to those behind and in front of him. "Han, Luke, this is General Iroh. Iroh, these are Han Solo and Luke Skywalker."

Between the strange names, strange attire, and reports of the ship that landed in the valley, Iroh knew enough to guess what those two represented. "I presume you two are allies from the stars?"

"You can put it that way," Han said. "Right now we're scoping things out. Getting a measure of what the Empire has been doing here. Make sure they have problems militarizing those abilities you have."

"Among other things," Luke said. "We've already lured away half of the ships in orbit. We better make the most of the time we have before they come back."

Iroh nodded. "Of course. If you like, my men and I can share what we know about the Empire's activities. It's been quite an undertaking to make sense of all the fragmented efforts against them."

"It's a start," Sokka said, glad to have even that. "So let's get to it."

* * *

At the end of the day they reached the northern edge of the mountains, and Aang and Kori pressed onward even while running out of daylight. A few hours ago Haru and his little group had taken a different route and left Aang's group, heading back to their current base of operations to get the rest of his people and their pilfered gear. As they approached their destination more of Kori's resistance fighters converged on the main path, each small group having taken different routes to get here and avoid drawing attention.

Just when they were about to leave the forests, Aang saw lights shining from behind. "Uh oh…"

Everyone present hurried back into the forest, taking cover behind the trees while the lights approached. Soon the lights came into focus, and everyone saw them as the headlights of several hovering speeder bikes. They came to a stop at the edge of the forest, descended to rest on the ground, and the headlights were turned off and the engines were shut down. The people getting off the speeder bikes were wearing stormtrooper armor, but it took more than one glance to realize that it was the same incomplete sets they had seen before.

Aang walked away from the trees and towards the speeder bikes, and gave the all clear signal to everyone else. "Haru, it would be nice to have a little warning next time."

Taking off his helmet, Haru walked to Aang and smiled. "Sorry."

"It's alright," Aang said. He looked at the speeder bikes for a bit, noticing a few with wooden carts attached to them. "I take it you brought some toys."

"And plenty of friends," Haru said. "But we don't have enough bikes for everyone. I suppose we could take turns carrying people to wherever it is we're going."

"That'll work," Aang said. "Take the exhausted people first. The rest of us can keep on walking."

Half of the people Haru had brought switched places with some of Aang's people, getting them off tired feet to ride as passengers on the speeder bikes. Among the people left behind were two that Aang remembered, and he was more than a little surprised to see them here. Although he didn't know them very well, Aang couldn't forget the ever grim Mai and the ever cheerful Ty Lee. Both of them still possessed their pilfered alien artifacts, though the armor was a little worse for wear after extensive use, and Mai's remaining blaster had more than a few cracks in it.

After taking some time to catch up, Mai had one remark to make. "You haven't been taking their tools to use against them?"

"Been more focused on destroying their stockpiles," Aang said. There had been a few incidents after Yu Dao, each more difficult than the one before it. "We usually don't have the time to grab things before getting out of the area."

"Whatever works," Haru said, walking beside them. He looked at the mountains up ahead, unfamiliar with the terrain on their slopes. "So where are we heading anyway?"

"A White Lotus base," Aang answered. "We're going to meet up with some people there. We'll finally have what we need to really strike back at the Empire."

"Sounds like fun," Mai said.

Meanwhile behind the group of three, Ty Lee was walking beside Kori. Eyeing the strange armor, Kori wished she could have a set for herself. "How does that suit work against blasters?"

"Pretty good," Ty Lee answered. "Course, it only protects the parts it covers. So I have to keep my head down when I'm fighting."

"Have you figured out any tricks to taking down stormtroopers easily?" Kori asked. "We've been using ambush tactics, but that only gets us so far."

"The quicksand trick usually does it when we're outside," Ty Lee said, having watched Haru and other earthbenders do it plenty of times. "But it doesn't work indoors. They've been putting in metal floors everywhere."

"We've noticed," Kori said. "Aang's told me that you know how to chi block. Does that do anything?"

"Not through the armor," Ty Lee said.

"Oh," Kori said, disappointed a little. "I was hoping you might teach it to some of my fighters."

"Sorry, wouldn't do much good," Ty Lee admitted.

The group kept on walking well into the night, reaching the base of the mountains a few hours after sundown. A few dozen earthbenders made the creation of a concealed campsite quick work, carving out a hole in the mountain slope big enough for all of them. An overhang concealed the campsite from aerial view, and from most other angles it appeared to be a natural part of the mountain. Once camp was set most of the fighters turned in for early sleep, tired from the long trek and expecting a need to be well rested in the morning.

Aang wasn't ready to sleep just yet, despite having an ache in his legs from walking all day. It had him missing Appa dearly, remembering the days when they could travel through the sky whenever they wanted to. But at least he knew Appa was safe and sound, living with a herd of wild sky bison Aang had found in the most remote countryside. At the edge of the campsite Aang looked at the northern skies, imagining sky bison roaming the heavens like they did before the war. In reality he saw two distinct pinpricks of light moving against the stars, the threat that made riding a sky bison too dangerous.

He had wanted to be alone here, but Aang saw Kenobi appear beside him. "It something going on?"

" _Not yet,"_ Kenobi answered. He turned and looked at the campsite, seeing the mixture of two groups united in one place. _"I see you have acquired some new friends in my absence."_

"They were led by old friends," Aang said. "I'm just glad we weren't the only ones fighting back."

" _Resistance cells spring up everywhere,"_ Kenobi said. _"Of course, it can be difficult to coordinate them all. Each is different in their own way, and some may not want to be part of a bigger alliance."_

"Thanks for the tip," Aang said. "You can go now."

Kenobi looked back at Aang. _"Is something the matter?"_

"Just wanted some alone time," Aang said.

" _Ah, I see,"_ Kenobi said. He looked in another direction, his eyes narrowing as if to see something far away. _"You might not get that tonight."_

There was a rumble in the ground, one that woke up the earthbenders already asleep. They all recognized the sound of other earthbenders tunneling at a fast pace, and they only had a few seconds to prepare for an underground ambush. Around the edges of the campsite the ground exploded, earthbenders clad in blue and white rising up to the surface. These earthbenders did not start an attack, and in turn the resistance fighters did not attack either. The biggest display of earthbending was near Aang, and from the underground rose an elderly man that Aang knew from childhood.

Aang saw the old man's muscles bulging through the blue and white robes, his hair eternally messy and his mouth still missing a few teeth. "Bumi!"

The King of Omashu cackled, glad to see Aang here. "What took you so long?"

* * *

By nightfall everyone agreed on a short term strategy.

All they needed was time, for both sides to acquire what was needed. The White Lotus was tasked with gathering and uniting the disparate groups resisting the Empire, requiring much greater manpower to be effective. Solo and Skywalker were tasked with contacting the rebel fleet, requiring the assistance of more ships to counter the imperial advantage in orbit. Both would need to wait until the morning, when the Star Destroyers were expected to move to the other side of the planet. Until then all they could do was wait, each passing the time in their own way.

Luke stood outside the base, back to the rock and looking out at other mountains and the valleys between them. In the moonlight he could see the forests and meadows in the valleys and clinging to the mountainsides, so very different from the harsh desert he used to call home. Yet he had been told that this world had a large desert too, along with extensive tundra, volcanic islands, and vast oceans teeming with life. Compared to most worlds he had visited since leaving Tatooine, a planet with every environment imaginable seemed like a fantasy.

He heard footsteps, and Luke turned to see Sokka coming outside. "Your planet is beautiful."

Sokka stopped in his tracks, thought about the compliment, and smiled as he came outside. "I just wish we didn't have to fight over it all the time."

"Katara mentioned a war your people ended recently," Luke said.

"It seems really petty now," Sokka said. "And to think, it almost ended with the entire continent going up in smoke."

Picturing the land scorched and barren, Luke looked away. "That would have been a real shame."

"Yeah," Sokka muttered. He put his back against the mountain, taking the time to enjoy the view.

Sharing the moment, Luke's gaze was drawn to the south again. "Sokka, is there anything important at the bottom of this world?"

Blinking twice, surprised by the question, Sokka thought about what to answer with. "Well the Southern Water Tribe used to cover most of the ice cap, but that changed when the Fire Nation attacked. We were down to a few scattered villages, and were still only starting to rebuild when the Empire invaded."

"Anything else?" Luke asked. "Anything you can't explain?"

There was only one thing Sokka could think of. "Dad used to tell me stories about the Everstorm. It's supposed to hover over the center of the ice cap, and apparently it's been raging since long before the Hundred Year War began. I've never actually seen it myself, so I have no idea if it's a real thing."

"Might be worth looking into," Luke said.

"Why?" Sokka wondered. "At best it's something spirit related, and I doubt they are going to help."

" _He's right about that."_

Hearing that voice in the waking world, and hearing that voice alone, Luke turned his head and saw Kenobi appear, transparent and in shades of blue. "It's good to see you."

A little confused, Sokka noticed Luke talking to someone that wasn't there. "Who are you talking to?"

"A friend," Luke answered, and then turned his attention back to Kenobi. "I didn't realize you could speak this way. I thought I had to be dreaming."

" _It is…_ easier _… to manifest here,"_ Kenobi answered. _"The Force is strong on this world. It shares a boundary with a world of spirits, sharing energy between the physical and the incorporeal. I wish it had been found long ago, I knew many Jedi that could have spent centuries studying this relationship."_

"We'll have to study it later," Luke said.

" _Of course,"_ Kenobi said. _"I thought you should know that you will be having company. Tell him that Aang will be glad to his friends back safe and sound."_

Luke turned towards Sokka. "Heads up, your friend Aang is coming in soon."

Staring at Luke now, Sokka had so many questions. "How do you know that?"

* * *

Escorted by Bumi and the White Lotus earthbenders, Aang and his growing group of resistance fighters entered the secret base. They entered what appeared to be the lowest level of a mine, and in a wide shaft earthbenders raised a platform to bring them up to the middle levels. There they entered the main part of the base, where White Lotus members were busy with early night tasks. Aang and his friends were brought to the meeting room, where the Grand Lotus was waiting, along with someone Aang hadn't seen since Ba Sing Se.

"Katara!"

On sight Aang ran to her, Katara ran to him, and they wrapped their arms around each other. They held on tighter than ever before, both wishing that they could never let go.

That was when Luke and Sokka returned, the latter smirking at them. "Well… I see you two aren't wasting time."


	23. Anachronistic Assault

Chapter 23: Anachronistic Assault

A few days had passed since most of Death Squadron departed, leaving just the Star Destroyers _Devastator_ and _Conquest_ in orbit above Earth. Their respective captains were disappointed that they couldn't participate in the fight against the rebel forces elsewhere, left behind to safeguard this backwater planet. They had the misfortune of being in the worst position for redeployment, the _Devastator_ still carrying this world's recruits and the _Conquest_ having the most stormtroopers on the surface, making them the clear choice to leave here.

Although the rebel attacks had been repelled, most of them simple raids that ended as quick as they began, considerable damage had been done across the Empire. Details hadn't reached this far out from the core worlds, leaving the two captains in dark about when the _Executor_ or the _Avenger_ would return. The _Devastator_ and _Conquest_ would have to make do without them, as there was still work to be done here. Fortifications to build, recruits to train, insurgents to slaughter, et cetera, and these two Star Destroyers would have to do it by themselves.

Standing on the bridge of the _Devastator_ , Captain Montferrat overheard an officer responding to a transmission coming from the surface. He waited for the conversation to end before speaking up. "What is it?"

"Another insurgent attack, the garrison by Gaoling this time," the officer reported. There was another transmission, the officer responded to it, and then reported it to the captain. "Yu Dao garrison is reporting an attack too."

"At the same time," Montferrat commented, the implications being very obvious. "Have every garrison check in."

The officer carried out the order, sent out the command to all of the garrisons, and waited for responses. They came in short order. "Southern continent garrisons are reporting attacks in progress. Some are requesting additional troop deployments."

"Approve them," Montferrat ordered. He turned towards the crewman at the helm. "Ensign, position us over the southern part of the continent. Something is going on down there."

* * *

Across the southern third of the Earth Kingdom, the combined forces of resistance fighters and the White Lotus Society sprang into action.

Stealth no longer being important, they had used earthbending to spread across the countryside in a hurry. Upon arrival at their targets earthbenders worked together to hurl house sized boulders at imperial garrisons, breaching the first line of defense with sheer kinetic force. Metal walls were broken down and gates busted wide open, enabling the resistance fighters to rush into the garrisons. Earthbenders went through first and recycled the boulders, creating earthen barriers to block incoming blaster bolts, and firebenders followed to fill the air with flames.

The second wave of fighters arrived, using the blasters and armor taken from earlier raids. Earthbenders among them made tiny holes in the barriers, allowing blasters to be fired through and strike down many stormtroopers from behind cover. It worked until stormtroopers started throwing thermal detonators, the resulting explosion demolishing the barriers and killing those just behind them. In turn the earthbenders reformed their barriers in layers, one to take the explosions and the other to shield fighters from them.

At Gaoling's garrison a third wave arrived, led by Avatar Aang and Katara, with Luke Skywalker right behind them. On arrival Aang entered the Avatar State, unleashing a maelstrom of earth and fire and wind upon the stormtroopers, knocking down every one of them exposed to the elements. Those that tried to get back up were brought down by Katara's water-whips, and the way to the main building of the garrison was clear. Anyone they missed was promptly shot by Luke, and they quickly reached the sturdy front doors.

Built to imperial code, this building could withstand a lot of punishment. It would take too long to break down the door with earthbent boulders, hence why Luke was there to speed things up. He made a cursory attempt at the control panel, just in case it hadn't been properly locked, but he had no such luck there. So he turned on his lightsaber and stabbed the door with it, cutting into the metal and carving out a wide circle. When he finished he kicked in the door, and then Luke signaled the others that they could proceed.

"Door's open," Luke said. "Let's go."

The earthbenders brought as much rock and dirt as they could with them, expecting to find very little of it inside the building. Some wrapped the rock around their bodies, making suits of stone to bring their element inside. Once everyone was inside the last ones raised a mound of dirt over the entrance, which firebenders set aflame, expecting a need to hinder stormtrooper reinforcements. Luke and Aang were in front as they rushed through the building, heading for the stockpile of weapons kept deep inside. More stormtroopers inside the building arrived to intercept them, which Aang had expected sooner.

Once again Aang and earthbenders created a stone barrier, using most of their available earth and making the barrier stretch from floor to ceiling and from wall to wall. Then they made the barrier move own the hallway, ramming it into a squad of stormtroopers, pushing them all the way to the end and pinning them there. The earthbenders recovered the stone and moved on, reusing the same tactic when more stormtroopers showed up ahead of the group. There was no stopping them from reaching their destination, and they quickly arrived at the armory.

"Five minutes people!" Luke yelled. He got to work setting up explosives brought from the _Falcon_ , and everyone else got to work taking more weapons and equipment for later use. "After that we get out of here!"

"You heard him!" Aang yelled, ushering in everyone else and encouraging them to hurry up. "You don't want to miss the fireworks! Or be part of the fireworks!"

Five minutes passed by very quickly, and everyone with free hands and a strong back was carrying an assortment of blasters and small explosives. Armor and large equipment was left untouched, for it would slow them down too much on the way out. At the five minute mark Luke was finished and set the timer, ten minutes being sufficient to leave yet short enough to prevent imperials from disarming it. After that everyone ran for the exit as quickly as they could, reaching it with some time to spare. The blocked entrance was reopened with earthbending, and everyone quickly passed through.

They were running through the broken down wall when Luke's timer went off. "Cover your ears! This is going to be loud!"

Explosions detonated inside the barracks, blowing the entire building to kingdom come. Debris rained down all around the place, including the fighters fleeing the scene. Earthen domes came up around earthbenders, shielding everyone from chunks of burning metal. After the rain ended the domes came down, and everyone saw the burning pit in the ground that used to be a building. Stormtroopers that remained outside rushed in to deal with the flames, and to salvage whatever could be saved from the burning heap.

"Mission accomplished," Aang said. As everyone quickly left the area, Aang stayed close to Katara. "How do you think the others are doing?"

* * *

The raid on Yu Dao opened with a volley of blaster bolts.

As the farthest target of them all, only the stolen speeder bikes could reach the former colony in time for the attack. The speeder bikes had built in blasters, which opened fire on an imperial gatehouse upon arrival. The imperials on duty had not been expecting such an attack, and in the moment of surprise every stormtrooper at the gatehouse was struck down. Earthbender passengers struck the gatehouse as the speeder bikes passed by, ripping up slabs of rock that tore the structure asunder, and they kept on going into the city itself.

Leading the charge were Haru and Kori, the former driving while the latter gave directions. Kori provided the shortest route to the recently finished imperial barracks in the city, and Haru drove the lead speeder bike down that path, shooting at the stormtroopers that happened to be in their way. The other speeder bikes were right behind them, and their earthbender passengers raised walls of rock down the streets, blocking pursuers from getting behind them. Civilians in the streets quickly got out of the way, a few almost getting hit by accident.

After one last turn Kori saw the barracks directly ahead, and she pointed it out for Haru and the others. "There it is."

The big white building took up several blocks and cut off the street, though to Haru all it looked like was a very big target. "Alright, here we go, just like we planned."

Haru maxed out the throttle, and Kori got ready to do a lot of earthbending. The speeder bike accelerated to its maximum speed, and the barracks was getting closer very quickly. The other speeder bikes accelerated as well, and it was an alarming sight to the stormtroopers on guard duty. At the last second Haru and Kori jumped off their speeder bike, earthbending the street into soft dirt to catch their fall, and the speeder bike crashed into the barracks. Everyone else did the same, and several collisions punched a big hole in the side of the building.

Slightly bruised from the rough landing, despite the earthbending used to soften it, Haru quickly got up and surveyed the damage. "I'm going to miss those things."

Kori was up right behind him, and she looked at the big hole in the wall. "Yeah well, we all have to make sacrifices. Live with it."

With a dozen people now on foot, each wielding a stolen blaster in addition to earthbending, they hurried through the hole and into the barracks. The last few speeder bike collisions had knocked down a few more walls inside, each hole smaller than the one before it. At the end they had to take normal routes through hallways, but were still far closer to the barracks armory than the front entrance. The stormtroopers that got in their way were quickly shot or struck down, and in only a minute Haru and Kori found their way to their destination.

Staring at all the munitions stockpiled here, a small bit of Haru thought it would be a gigantic waste. "Alright, let's get to work."

Everyone was carrying some stolen thermal detonators, and they took more that they found in the armory. It had taken trial and error beforehand to figure out how they worked, time well spent in preparation to blow this place to kingdom come. The detonators were placed in as many places as possible, timers set for five minutes, and then everyone ran out of the armory as fast as they could run. They made it out of the barracks with time to spare, and they were a few blocks down when the detonators exploded, which in turn made all the munitions explode.

Kori turned her head in time to see the massive explosion, the building go up in flames, and the resulting burning pit in the ground. "It worked. Now let's get out of here."

"Better hustle," Haru insisted. He saw stormtroopers gathering in the distance, nearly ready to march onto the scene. "They'll be all over us in a minute."

Already running with all the others, Kori had only one more remark. "Hey, even if we get caught, it's still mission accomplished. Now we hope everyone else can do their missions."

* * *

Far to the south, in the middle of a large mountain range, another raid hit the imperial garrison at Omashu.

The city on a mountaintop had been hardly ideal for a garrison, but was the only suitable place in the region. Troops stationed here would have trouble deploying on foot, and would require air support to travel anywhere beyond the city. But it did make a good spot for TIE Fighters to stop and refuel, once the proper facilities had been completed. Everything at the peak of the mountain had been cleared away, including the palace that the missing ruler had once used, and scaffolding covered the place during construction.

Led by said missing ruler, the White Lotus and assorted resistance fighters attacked the city from below. King Bumi brought them into a special tunnel at the base of the mountain, connected to a vertical shaft that had carved by earthbending ages ago. Together all the earthbenders raised a stone platform to the top, ending where metal foundations of incomplete facilities barred the path. They emerged from the underground just above the middle part of the city, made the mountainside exploded outward, and rushed into the streets like a landslide.

Among them were Iroh and Mai, coming out in the middle of the group and just ahead of the returning king. Iroh pointed his finger at the mountain peak and gave the order. "Attack!"

Mai raised her alien blaster, taking aim at something above them. "Get them."

She opened fire and shot down a stormtrooper commander, the body falling down the slope and into a building. Mai saw other fighters raise and aim stolen imperial blasters, shooting at the stormtroopers responding to their attack. The high ground did little to aid the stormtroopers, not when earthbenders turned that ground against them. Earthen barricades rose and fell as needed, blocking imperial blasters one second before allowing resistance blasters to pass through. Stormtrooper bodies fell by the score, with next to no casualties on the resistance side.

After thinning the ranks considerably, the resistance fighters advanced up the mountain, passing over the first metal fortifications that had barred passage underground. Earthbenders brought their element over with them, some hurling large boulders further up for use later. Firebenders added their element to the mix, burning everyone they could. Iroh fired a few bolts of lightning, destroying fortifications that were in their way. They soon reached the first of several metal buildings atop the mountain, its front doors left open by stormtroopers leaving to battle, and now the resistance was passing through.

More stormtroopers were inside and heading for the entrance, only to be gunned down by the stolen blasters. Earthbenders brought their element into the building, formed earthen walls when needed, and attacked with propelled stone bricks when blasters weren't sufficient. Firebenders burned everything else, leaving only charred remains behind. There was no stopping them from passing through to the other side, where an unfinished complex stood at the peak of the mountain. The roof and upper levels weren't complete, and aside from scaffolding in the way everyone could see the sky above them.

"Okay everyone," Mai said, getting everyone's attention. "Rip it up."

"On his signal," Iroh said, pointing at Bumi.

"My pleasure," Bumi said. He stood in the middle, with all the earthbenders around him, ready to follow his lead. "It's time to take back my city."

It took all the power at Bumi's disposal, both his personal earthbending and that of everyone around him, to bend the earth beneath the foundations, _all_ of it. The mountain peak separated from the rest, lifting the foundations along with it, even if it was only by an inch at most. It also moved to the side by an inch, shifted the center of weight, and slightly tipped everything over. Gravity and the slope of the mountain handled the rest, pulling the off balance mountaintop down the slope, slowly at first but gradually picking up speed.

"Everyone out!" Iroh ordered.

"Get going while the going's good!" Mai added.

Not needed to be told twice, everyone hurried back the way they had come from. Now there was a slight incline to the floor, getting steeper by the second, with the exit being uphill from here. It took a minute to reach the exit, and by then the floor was at a forty degree angle, difficult to run uphill on a smooth surface. They leaped through the exit several at a time, fell several feet to hit the ground, and rolled down the slope a ways before stopping. Most of them made it out it time, before the mountaintop slide down the mountain.

Past the tipping point, the mountaintop slid down the slope, quickly picking up speed and demolishing everything in the way. The last few to leave barely made it out, hitting the groves that now scarred the mountainside, needing earthbending to stop their fall. They got to see the mountaintop fall off the side of the mountain, taking the unfinished imperial buildings along with it, and fall into the valley that surrounded Omashu. There was a very loud crash when it hit the bottom, along with a tremor that shook the entire city.

Near the top of what was left of the mountain, King Bumi stood tall and victorious, despite the collateral damage to his city. "I have been waiting months to do that!"

Closer to the new top of the mountain, Mai looked down at the mad king. "We just wrecked nearly a third of the city, and he's happy about it?"

Slightly higher up, Iroh was just as concerned about his colleague. "They do call him mad. Now we know why."

Mai sighed, and she gave the signal to withdraw. "Let's hope everyone else is doing better."

* * *

Elsewhere in the Earth Kingdom, outside a small town near the southern end of the Si Wong Desert, another raid had gone awry.

This barracks had AT-STs at its disposal, something the resistance fighters hadn't known beforehand. Their large blasters tore earthen barriers apart, thwarting the main defense earthbenders could create. This barracks also had thick metal roads surrounding the building, which the AT-STs stood on and did not venture past the edge, thwarting the tactic of attacking from underground. The smaller stolen blasters resistance fighters used couldn't penetrate the AT-STs' armor, leaving only shallow scorch marks in the tall machines.

However, now having a better understanding of what earthbenders can do, Han Solo got an idea. "Quickly, there's something I want you guys to try."

Han made his suggestion, which Sokka approved of, and Ty Lee got the earthbenders to put into practice. Working together the earthbenders raised a thick column of stone a dozen feet long, and hurled it into the air. Good aim had the stone column impacting the side of an AT-ST, and raw kinetic force knocked the mighty machine off its feet. The whole thing fell on its side, now with a large dent in it, and unable to get back upright. The stone column remained next to the fallen AT-ST, potential ammunition for when the earthbenders could get onto the metal road.

More stone columns were raised and thrown at the AT-STs, each having similar results as the first one. The AT-STs tried to dodge the attacks, but by then half of them had been knocked over. Better aim was enough to compensate, and within minutes the rest of the AT-STs were disabled. After that the resistance fighters rushed the barracks, earthbenders recovering the stone used in the pillars, and attacked the stormtroopers coming out to defend the place. It did not take long to clear a path and reach the front doors, and Han got to work trying to open them.

"Where are Luke and his lightsaber when you need them?" Han complained. He had a control panel removed and was fiddling with the wires inside, hotwiring the door in an attempt to make it open. "This might take a while."

A slight tremor reached them, worrisome for a number of reasons, and Ty Lee turned towards the source. "We might not have a while."

Another tremor came, followed by another and another. Everyone looked to the east and saw the much larger AT-ATs approaching, coming out of a large cavern nearby. Apparently the imperials had been storing them there temporarily, until proper storage facilities could be constructed. Now they were walking towards the barracks, even larger blasters taking aim at the fighters at the entrance. Earthbenders quickly made several layers of earthen barricades from their stone pillars, knowing it would only buy them a minute at the absolute most.

The first volley of blaster fire demolished half of the barricades, and Han immediately let go of the wires. "Yeah no, this is not happening."

He quickly ran past the corner of the building, taking cover from the AT-AT blaster fire. Sokka and Ty Lee were right behind him, along with most of their earthbenders and resistance fighters. Some didn't make it there, blown to bits along with the last of the earthen barricades. The AT-ATs kept firing despite the enemy getting behind cover, resulting in blaster bolts clipping the corner, and blowing open a hole in the building. There was no chance of getting through that hole, not when the AT-ATs were still shooting past it.

"Well now what do we do?" Ty Lee asked. An explosion went off nearby, and she had to shield her face from debris. "We're pinned down."

Han took out a small communicator. "We call in the cavalry."

The call was made, and a response was swift and without mercy. At the southern horizon the _Millennium Falcon_ appeared, flying towards the barracks from behind the AT-ATs, main blasters taking aim at their weak points for massive damage. A few quick shots damaged the neck of an AT-AT, breaking off the head and letting it fall to the ground. The Falcon shot at and disabled two more AT-ATs, but then had to turn around to avoid flying in front of the targets, where it would be easy pickings for their large blasters.

The remaining AT-ATs stopped firing at the earthbenders and started turning around, their operators deeming the unexpected spaceship to be the greater threat. However the massive machines were not designed with maneuverability in mind, so it would take a while to get a target lock on the _Falcon_. This diversion cleared the way for Han and the others, who now had a way into the barracks through the hole in the building. Everyone got inside very quickly, and they hurried through the barracks with as much earth ammunition as they could carry.

As he ran through the corridors Han had his communicator out. "That's enough Chewy. Back off before you get shot down."

Several growls came through the communicator, and Sokka still had no idea how anyone could recognize that as speech. "Thanks for the save, big guy."

A happy roar was the answer, before Han put the communicator away. "Alright, in and out before those things come back for us."

Yet as they continued into the barracks, Sokka realized something bad. "Are you sure it was wise to reveal your ship like that? Now the Empire knows you're here."

"I wouldn't worry too much about that," Han said. He gave a wicked smile. "They were going to find out soon enough anyway."

* * *

Captain Montferrat heard the report, and the meaning of it was clear as day.

The rebels were coming.

A spaceship attacking an AT-AT squadron was proof enough, the only one in the area that wasn't under imperial control. The ship's design was quickly identified, and it matched a vessel that had become increasingly well known in the galaxy. It was clear that this was the _Millennium Falcon_ , no amount of false identification codes could suggest otherwise after the blatant attack. And where the _Millennium Falcon_ went, rebel forces were often not far behind. It was only a matter of time before they arrived, and Montferrat knew that he had to be ready.

However, there was not enough time.

One of the officers at the sensor stations made the confirmation. "Multiple hyperspace drops confirmed, just beyond the first gas giant's orbit. ETA: five minutes."

"The raids were a distraction," Montferrat realized. He turned toward the comm officer. "Send a message to Grand Admiral Thrawn immediately. We need the rest of Death Squadron back here now."

There wasn't enough time to summon reinforcements, for the rebel forces were already moving in for an attack. Two capital ships, three battlecruisers, five carriers were inbound, along with several dozen fighter ships kept in their hangars. They passed the orbit of the next planet out, closing in on Earth and the Star Destroyers in orbit. The _Conquest_ ascended to a higher orbit, a better position to prepare for battle, and aimed its main guns toward the incoming rebel fleet. Currently over the opposite hemisphere, the _Devastator_ accelerated to clear the planet and aid the _Conquest_.

Already the rebel ships were deploying their fighters, both the typical X-Wing and Y-Wing varieties in half-dozen squad formations. In response the _Conquest_ deployed its entire contingent of TIE Fighters, all of them heading ahead of the Star Destroyer to intercept the rebel fighters. Over a hundred small ships occupied the space between, coming together like opposing waves crashing into one another. Both sides opened fire at the same time, blaster bolts crisscrossing in the void of space, many hitting the opposing fighters, some even hitting the larger ships behind them.

* * *

Meanwhile, it was the middle of night in the Fire Nation, and Fire Lord Zuko was looking up at the starlit sky.

"Huh…" Zuko muttered, seeing many new lights in the sky, coming and going at a frequent pace. They created quite a spectacle for the insomniac eye, even if he didn't know the true source of the lights. "I don't remember asking for fireworks."

* * *

 _Home One_ served as this fleet's flagship, leading the attack on the imperials at Earth.

Leia personally gave the order. "Hit them with everything we've got."

Main guns at the ready, _Home One_ opened fire on the closer Star Destroyer. The other large ships in this fleet did the same, firing past the assorted fighters to strike the main target. From this angle they struck the Star Destroyer's dorsal side, lighting up the shields and quickly draining their power. The Star Destroyer fired back, and its companion opened fire from further away, impacting the rebel ships' shields just as hard. Some of the shots missed the mark, imperial shots heading off into space and rebel shots unfortunately hitting the planet, certainly ruining someone's day.

"Focus on the closer Star Destroyer," Leia ordered. She watched the _Home One_ bridge crew relay the order to the rest of the fleet. "Bring it down before its buddy gets too close."

The X-Wings broke through the TIE Fighter formation, flying past the enemy and swarming around the Star Destroyer, leaving the Y-Wings behind to deal with fighters trying to follow. The X-Wings attacked from the sides while the fleet continued to shoot the top, depleting the Star Destroyer's shields even faster. When the shields failed all those blasters struck the hull, eating into the armor and quickly blowing open holes and exposing the interior to space. Targeting shifted to the Star Destroyer's command tower, to destroy the vital systems located there and cripple the ship.

Knowing the present danger, the captain of the _Conquest_ reacted swiftly. Thrusters ignited to change the ship's orientation, putting the bottom of the ship toward the rebel fleet. The sheer mass of the ship's lower decks swallowed the rebel attacks, shielding the command tower and the bridge from major damage. X-Wings continued to attack from the sides, but their smaller shots were insufficient for the task. Ventral cannons were deployed and opened fire, even as the ventral hull around them was blasted away into scrap metal.

The _Devastator_ was still on approach to the battle, Captain Montferrat observing the beating the rebels were inflicting on the _Conquest_. His ship's shields were still holding, fortunate that the rebels were focusing on the other ship instead of his. Two of the rebel ship's shields were starting to fail, but not soon enough to destroy either one. Even if reinforcements were on the way they would take too long to get here, and at this rate the rebels would destroy the _Conquest_ in less than five minutes. After that the rebels could concentrate on the Devastator, and Montferrat wasn't willing to lose his ship here.

"Withdraw," Montferrat ordered, much to the surprise of his crew. "We're not going to lose a third Star Destroyer over this backwater planet."

"What about our forces on the planet?" one officer asked.

"They can hold out until Death Squadron returns in full force," Montferrat said.

And so the _Devastator_ turned back towards imperial space, aiming for a hyperspace jump around the rebel fleet. By then the lower half of the _Conquest_ had been consumed by blaster impacts, thrusters offline and the ship tipping towards the rebels, enabling the larger ships to target the command tower again. After that it only took a few minutes to blow apart the tower, destroy the bridge, and leave the Star Destroyer as a wreck in space. Rebel ships shifted their focus to the sole remaining Star Destroyer, but could not inflict any damage before it made the jump to hyperspace.

Only the TIE Fighters remained to fight the rebels, destroying a good number of Y-Wings before their numbers drastically declined. Eventually they were wiped out by the rebel fighters, unable to escape thanks to their lack of individual hyperdrives. Meanwhile every transport vessel that could fly was abandoning the wreck of the _Conquest_ , most heading toward the planet to reach imperial facilities there. The wreck itself continued forward on its own inertia, settling into a high elliptical orbit that was doomed to decay.

And yet, despite her forces winning the battle, Leia was in no mood to celebrate. "Contact the _Falcon_. I want to know what's going on down there. We won't have much time before the imperials return."

* * *

Just beyond the orbit of the planet's moon, above the side shrouded in night, the personal TIE Fighter of Darth Vader emerged from hyperspace.

Ignoring the rebel fleet, Vader kept his gaze on the planet, drawn to its northern pole. "There."


	24. From Top to Bottom

Chapter 24: From Top to Bottom

Approaching Earth from the night side, Darth Vader's Tie Fighter went unnoticed as it flew toward the planet. He ignored the rebel fleet entering orbit around the planet, and they were too busy to notice a single small ship passing through the planet's shadow. At this part of its orbit the planet's northern pole was in eternal night, and his ship was lost in the shadows as it reached the planet. He entered atmosphere above the higher latitudes, descended to the lower altitudes, and then flew further northward toward his destination.

In the darkness of a midday night, there was very little light to see by. The stars and the planet's moon were the only natural light, and it sparkled off the surface of the seas and the tops of glaciers. The planet's ice cap appeared and passed by underneath Darth Vader's ship, accompanied by thin clouds above and around him. Darth Vader saw the frozen city pass by to the east, illuminated by artificial lights installed by imperial occupation, which he ignored and continued to fly north. His destination was at the very top of this world, where there was no sign of intelligent life.

Sensors became unreliable at the northern pole, the planet's magnetic north pole creating strong interference here. Darth Vader did not require them anyway, instead using the Force to guide his way forward. On that path he flew his ship to the center of the ice cap, where he could no longer travel further north without going south instead. Darth Vader landed his ship on the frozen tundra, inside a frozen mountain range that covered the pole. After shutting down the engines Vader exited the ship, stepping foot on old snow that crunched beneath his boots.

Darth Vader looked at the place ahead of him. "Well what do we have here?"

Nestled in a valley between several frozen mountains was a lush green forest, an oasis of life surrounded by cold desolation. It was illuminated by wide bands of aurora in the sky, brilliant colors of light fueled by the strong magnetic field here. Somehow the vegetation in this forest remained in full bloom, despite having no sunlight for months at a time. Something sustained this forest instead of the sun, a mystical power with a strange sensation that Vader was unfamiliar with. The mere existence of such a place was worth investigating, especially to someone with the Force.

Walking into the forest and observing the foliage, Darth Vader's curiosity grew with every step forward. There was a narrow path leading through the forest, winding back and forth around trees and bushes, with occasional small shrines left by natives that revered this place. The deeper Vader went the more it felt like there was something unseen here, like another world was overlapping with this one, right here yet out of reach. At the end of the path there was a small meadow in the center of the forest, the tree branches along the edge all reaching towards the center.

As he walked Darth Vader sensed strange presences in the forest, a kind that was unfamiliar in every possible way. He caught glimpses of strange creatures lurking about, their forms transparent and varied in shape and size. They seemed to be there and yet not there, a semi-corporeal state that made little sense to him. They were also keeping their distance from Darth Vader, like any reasonably intelligent being would, and did not dare get in his way. The walk through the forest was a quick one, ending at the clearing that covered the center of the forest.

Vader stopped just before the center, looking down at a faint glow that pierced the snow covering the ground. He held a hand forward and focused his mind, using the Force to move the snow out of the way, exposing a thick layer of ice hidden underneath. Underneath the ice was a strange dark red sphere, made of some substance that was not of this world. With the Force Vader broke the ice apart, removing the last physical barrier over the dark red sphere. He placed one hand on the surface of the sphere, focusing his senses to get a feel for what it was like in the Force.

One thing was certain. This required further investigation.

* * *

The Fire Nation palace was finally complete.

Barely resembling the old palace from before the war, this one was a fortress taller than the caldera rim behind it. Three distinct spires of steel overlooked the capital city, itself completely rebuilt in the imperial style and conforming to galactic code. Aside from being built in the caldera of a volcano, this new city was well on its way to being a match for any city in the Empire. The obvious hazards of having a city here were being addressed by imperial engineers, using technological means to vent the pressures inside the volcano, ensuring that it would not erupt and destroy the city above it.

All that hard work was being undone in a day.

Identified as a stronghold for the Empire, the rebel fleet in orbit had sent a squadron to neutralize it. Dozens of X-Wings and Y-Wings flew into the city's airspace, and had to evade blaster fire from antiaircraft turrets placed on the palace spires and the caldera rim. A few fighters were shot down and crashed into the volcano slope, but most crossed over the caldera and opened fire. X-Wings fired blasters at the antiaircraft turrets to destroy them, and the Y-Wings dropped bombs across the city below, striking the first blow against the imperial here.

Inside the palace Fire Lord Zuko felt the floor shake, safe from the first bombs by being in the lower levels. "What's going on?"

No one bothered to answer his question, or at least no one in the throne room with him. Everyone important was already on their way out, responding to an alert made before the first bombs fell. Stormtroopers remained in the throne room with Zuko, keeping an ever watchful eye on him, and had very little to tell him about the attack outside. Zuko walked away from the throne and left the room, found some imperial officers heading down the hallway, and followed them to find out what was going on out there.

They led him down to the center of the palace's ground floor, where an operations center had been built with state of the art imperial technology. Zuko still had only the most basic understanding of the technology use in here, being that it allowed communication faster and further than he could comprehend. He saw imperial officers working frantically at their stations, struggling to coordinate defenses during a crisis. Zuko overhead some of them complaining about the Star Destroyers being gone, which gave him some idea of the situation.

"I presume we are under attack," Zuko said.

A commander in the middle of the room turned toward Zuko, and then looked back at what he had been doing. "Someone get him out of here."

The stormtroopers watching Zuko quickly escorted him back into the hallway, getting him out of the way of work in the operations center. "I'm going, I'm going."

More tremors shook the palace, and Zuko imagined the upper levels being bombed into oblivion. So he headed down to the lower levels, taking the central stairs to descend below the ground floor. The stormtroopers remained right behind him, silently glad for the excuse to be on safer ground. Very few people were down here at the moment, most of the imperials remaining above to handle the situation. No one got in Zuko's way as he walked through an underground corridor, heading to a part that predated the imperial renovations.

Leaving halls of steel behind for halls of stone, heading down to one of the old bunkers, Zuko looked for something in particular. "There."

On the wall was a dragon shaped emblem, mouth wide open around a hole in the wall. As he passed it Zuko put his palm against the emblem, firebent some flames into the hole, and triggered a hidden mechanism in the wall. Part of the wall slid back and then down, revealing an entrance to the tunnels below the capital city. The stormtroopers were surprised, until Zuko threw flames in their faces, leaving them blinded and furious instead. Zuko leapt through the entrance, firebent into a second dragon emblem on this side, and the hidden mechanism closed the wall behind him.

The stormtroopers pounded their fists on the resealed wall. "Hey!"

Zuko was already running through the tunnel, getting as far from the palace as he could. "This better be the right time to leave…"

* * *

Throughout the Earth Kingdom, imperial forces were in retreat.

Without support from Star Destroyers in orbit, the imperials on the surface had to make do with what they had planet side and nothing more. Most of their forces on the continent were either in Ba Sing Se or the former Fire Nation colonies, and so they retreated towards the centers of those two areas to concentrate their resources. Small towns and villages were abandoned outright, the locals left to fend for themselves after the imperials departed. The commanders coordinating the retreat considered the matter temporary, vowing to return even as they converged on Yu Dao.

Although the barracks in that city had been destroyed, Yu Dao remained the most fortifiable position on this part of the continent. The walls surrounding the city remained intact, still reinforced with imperial steel, and could withstand considerable punishment from ground based attacks. The city itself was big enough to house thousands of stormtroopers and support personnel, with enough supplies inside to last for several months. The imperials could hold out here as long as needed, despite the loss of the barracks.

The resistance fighters responsible for the damage had been captured and imprisoned, scheduled to be interrogated at a later date. The prisoners were kept on the highest floors of several steel buildings, kept as far away as possible from the earth most of them could command. Although the commanders in the city wanted to interrogate the prisoners now, coordinating the retreat took priority over everything else. This left the prisoners waiting for the inevitable interrogation, wondering what forms of torture awaited, fears growing worse with each passing moment.

During the wait Kori and Haru were in adjacent cells, sitting with their backs to the metal wall in between them. Kori looked through the bars of the cell door, wishing she could see anyone out there. "What do you think is keeping them?"

"No idea," Haru answered. Though their voices were dulled by the wall between them, they could still hear each other well enough to talk. "They seem to be really busy. There must be a lot going on out there."

"Hopefully we can stick around long enough to find out," Kori said. "Still, if they're too busy to deal with us, it must mean everyone else is causing quite a ruckus."

"They did have easier missions than we did," Haru said. He thought about the cost of their mission, both in people and in equipment. "Shame about those bikes, I'm going to miss them."

"I'm sure you can get new ones," Kori said. She heard something from down the hallway, and she lowered her voice. "Someone's coming."

An imperial officer was climbing up the stairs, flanked by a pair of stormtroopers holding their blasters at the ready. They seemed to be in a bit of a hurry, wanting to get their task done and over with so they could move on to other matters. The officer went to Kori's cell first and unlocked the door, and the stormtroopers aimed their blasters at her as the officer entered the cell. Kori stood up and crossed her arms, but did not resist when the officer pulled her toward the open door. Haru could only stand by his cell door and listen, unable to do anything at all.

"What do you want?" Kori demanded.

"I think you can imagine," the officer said, taking her out of the cell. "We're just going to ask some questions. Answer truthfully and you won't be harmed."

Kori nodded, understanding what would happen if he believed she was lying.

But as the officer led Kori away, one stormtrooper was slower than the other, and leaned toward the bars of Haru's cell. "Stay calm and wait."

Not knowing that woman's voice, Haru could only stare as the stormtrooper walked away. "Okay, will do."

* * *

While most of the rebel forces remained in orbit above Earth, a few ships landed in the southern Earth Kingdom.

Gaoling was chosen for a temporary base of operations for the rebels, after the imperials were driven out of the city. The facilities the imperials had managed to build were destroyed by aerial bombardment, while most of the preexisting infrastructure was left intact. After taking the city the rebels landed their ships in the lands just outside, taking care not to move too much equipment or resources into the city itself. Dozens of X-Wings and other assorted fighters patrolled the skies of the region, searching for imperials that would surely be plotting a counterattack.

The _Millennium Falcon_ had just landed near the largest rebel ship, and Han Solo was heading into the ship ten times bigger than his. "I won't be in there long Chewie."

From atop the _Falcon_ and currently fixing a power regulator, Chewbacca grumbled something at Han down below.

Han ignored that remark and entered the larger ship, passing by many rebels coming in and out. He saw a few of the locals with the rebels, some being shown the lower levels of the ship, others showing what could be done with earthbending and firebending. Han entered a turbolift and ascended to the middle levels of the ship, and from there he walked to a small meeting room. He looked through a small window in the door, saw that there was a meeting taking place, and that he should wait before speaking with that royal pain in his backside.

Inside were Leia with Katara and Aang, in the middle of a long conversation at the time. Leia had briefed them on the progress of rebel advancement, from the victory in space to the ongoing battles on the surface. In turn Aang and Katara told Leia about the various places on Earth, where they could find the greatest concentrations of benders, and suitable locations to land ships to provide assistance. However the conversation had turned to a sour note, something that Aang did not want to hear, but had suspected might be the case."

"You're not really going to leave?" Aang asked. He looked Leia in the eye, wishing that he knew her better than what Katara could tell him. "You just got here."

"And we can't stay here," Leia said. She saw looks of disappointment, which were justified in her opinion. "I'm sorry, but we can't hold this planet. The Empire will return in force and wipe us out if we are still here. We have to leave before they come back."

Katara slammed her fist on the table. "Then what was the point in coming back?"

"We want to recruit as many benders as we can," Leia answered. "From what we've seen, we can't allow the Empire to have sole access to your kind of power."

"Would have been nice if you said that upfront," Katara said.

"Is this going to be a problem?" Leia asked. "If it is, we need to settle it right now."

"Fine," Aang said. "You want benders? Okay, that's fair. Can you promise you will at least try to keep them safe?"

"Yes, we will try to keep them safe," Leia promised. "Keep in mind, they will be expected to fight. We will be sending them to fight on worlds that will enhance their abilities, but we still expect casualties even on those planets. That is the nature of war."

"I understand that part," Aang said, remembering the consequences of the Hundred Year War. "Wait, what was that about enhancing our abilities?"

"Bending has been going nuts out there," Katara said, remembering the experience firsthand. "We've got a theory right now that seems to be working. Well at least for water and fire, not sure about earth and air yet. We haven't been able to test those two yet."

Remembering the time he had power greater than the Avatar State, Aang was intrigued by the possibilities. "Alright, let's do it. But we evacuate as many nonbenders as your ships can carry. If it's anything like the last time, they should get bending on the worlds where bending is better."

"They do," Katara confirmed. "Well Sokka did anyway."

"Really," Aang said, glad to have Katara's word on the matter. "Well that should be the end of it. You have a reason to take all of us with you."

"Not all of you," Leia said, voice dripping with disappointment. "Our ships have limited space. Your planet has nearly a billion people on it. It would take decades to evacuate everyone."

"We understand," Aang said, as much as he didn't like it. He pushed his chair back and stood up. "If there's nothing else, we all have things to do."

"Of course," Leia said.

With the meeting over Aang and Katara left the meeting room, passing by Han on their way out, not inclined to talk with him right now. Han waved and said hi, Aang and Katara did likewise, and they went on their way. Leia remained inside the room, going to a terminal to deal with matters she could address from there. Han entered and walked up to Leia, getting a brief look at the terminal before Leia shut it off. Han understood the discretion, knowing there were things Leia kept from him, things that the Rebellion didn't trust in the hands of a smuggler like him.

"So how long are we staying here?" Han asked. "The _Falcon_ needs a lot of maintenance done. I'd rather not be in the middle of it when we have to pull out."

"I figure we have a few days at most," Leia answered. "They need time for that Star Destroyer to rendezvous, time to assemble a retaliatory fleet, and time to get that fleet here."

"Long enough to get the little things done," Han noted. He tilted his head toward the door and then back to Leia. "So what were you three talking about?"

Leia sighed. "Their main issue is keeping their people safe. I promised them we would try to keep them alive and well."

"Well they're no good to us if they die," Han pointed out. "We really should keep the benders alive at least. Katara's proven that they are quite useful."

"Not just her," Leia said. "If all of their so called 'nonbenders' can acquire powers in the right environment, we could have a whole army of supernatural warriors. But so far all we have for proof on that is Sokka."

"And he wasn't very good at this bending thing," Han added. "Speaking of whom, I thought the kid would be in this little meeting. Where is he?"

* * *

"How did I let you talk me into this?"

Riding in the back seat of a borrowed T-47 airspeeder, Sokka was not enjoying the ride in this small wedge shaped vehicle. Facing the rear end of the vehicle and seeing the ocean and sky moving backwards was disorienting, mostly because he couldn't see where they were going, what with it being behind his back the entire trip. In the opposite seat Luke was flying the airspeeder, keeping it at a low altitude while nearly maxing out the throttle. He hoped to have the airspeeder returned before it could be missed, as this wasn't exactly a sanctioned mission of sorts.

"You said you were feeling a little homesick," Luke answered.

"And this is not helping with that," Sokka said. He saw water give way to ice, and could almost swear he saw his home village pass by on the right. "In fact, you just passed by my home. And I doubt we're going to make a stop there on the way back."

"Probably not," Luke admitted. He kept the airspeeder flying straight south a little while longer, until he spotted something that had to be their destination. "That must be it up ahead."

"I wouldn't know," Sokka said. "I can't see it."

"Oh, sorry," Luke said. He turned the airspeeder to fly around the destination in a wide circle, putting it on his left and Sokka right. "There, how about now?"

Sokka turned his head and saw a massive storm, unlike any he had ever seen before. "Yep, if I had to guess, I would say that is the Everstorm."

Every southern Water Tribe member knew the stories, and even a few in the northern tribe had heard the legends. It was said to be a storm that never ended, raging since time immemorial. It thwarted all attempts to reach the center of the South Pole, all attempts either ending in failure or in death. Rumor had it that there was an ancient secret protected by the storm, and could only be obtained by someone that could find the light in the dark. Of course, the first tellers of those rumors hadn't accounted for spaceships, which had Sokka thinking this would be a lot easier than he would have expected otherwise.

"I'm not seeing an eye to this storm," Luke said. From here it looked like a big mass of green clouds stretching beyond the horizon, swirling in strange ways very different from regular storms. "It's going to be rough flying in."

"Let's just get it over with," Sokka said. He braced his arms on the sides of his seat, expecting to feel some turbulence. "I'm ready."

Luke turned the airspeeder toward the Everstorm, heading straight for the center to dive into the strange clouds. Visibility quickly dropped to zero in the clouds, though the white out had a strange blue-green tint to it. The altimeter was still working and reporting their position at a safe altitude, but Luke didn't bother to look at it. He trusted his instincts and flew the airspeeder through the storm with ease, compensating for turbulence and slowly descending towards the ground. The clouds thinned at the lowest altitudes, revealing the terrain below them.

For the most part the tundra was covered by thick snowdrifts, a few mountains and several small hills sticking up from the snow-filled valleys. However, in the center of this frozen wasteland was a strange forest, full of gnarled trees covered in ice and snow, yet somehow still alive despite the intense cold. There were no clearings in the frozen forest to land in, requiring Luke to land the airspeeder on the tundra at the forest's edge. It was a soft landing in the snow, nestled between the trees and a hill, headlights illuminating an entrance to the forest on the ground.

After shutting down the engine Luke opened the airspeeder's canopy, and he took in a breath of cold air. "We'll have to walk from here."

Sokka did the same and then climbed out of the airspeeder, setting foot on snow just after Luke. "Are you sure you still want to go in there? This place is giving me the creeps."

"What's there to worry about?" Luke asked back. He heard a growling sound from the forest, as if many small creatures were waiting just out of sight. "I mean, besides that."

Sokka drew his space sword and held his space shield up, hoping he wouldn't need them. "Well, let's see what's in there."

Luke was in front as they entered the forest, setting foot where none had gone in centuries. The headlights of the airspeeder illuminated the entrance, but the light was soon lost behind the dense foliage. None of the light of the midday sun penetrated the clouds, leaving the forest in near total darkness. Luke activated his lightsaber for its blue light, using it to see the path ahead. Sokka appreciated the gesture, not having a light source of his own to use here. He stayed close to Luke as they walked down the path, staying close to the light in the middle of all this darkness.

"Handy gadget you have there," Sokka complimented, wishing he had one of those. "Badass weapon, and a flashlight."

"It's called a lightsaber," Luke insisted. He swept it back and forth as needed, pointing the light around corners and tree in inconvenient places. "Are you seeing anything unfamiliar in here?"

"Everything here is unfamiliar," Sokka said. "Strange trees, strange weather, strange… I don't even know what those are. Shadows? Eels? Shadow eels? Sheels?"

Luke saw the strange shadow eel things coiled around tree branches, watching from afar and keeping their distance. Their translucent black appearance was most discomforting, as if they were there and yet not there at the same time. Their eyes followed the lightsaber blade wherever it went, drawn toward a light source unlike anything they had ever seen. More of these creatures appeared on the path ahead, quickly moving out of the way as Luke approached. They completely ignored Sokka's presence, as if he wasn't even there to begin with.

"I don't suppose there are any local superstitions about those things?" Luke asked.

"Well in ancients times the South Pole was home to spirits," Sokka said. Judging by what he saw, there was only one conclusion. "I guess they never left."

As if knowing they had been identified as such, the spirits finally reacted to their presence. They leapt into the air and swarmed around Luke and Sokka, blocking the view of the trees with their numbers. In the light of the lightsaber the spirits looked like a solid blue wall, reflecting the blue light back towards its source. Hundreds of screeches merged into a symphony of noise, only a few decibels short of being absolutely deafening. Sokka got closer to Luke and put his back to Luke's, holding up his space sword in a similar way Luke held the lightsaber.

"This is not good," Sokka pointed out.

"Stay calm," Luke recommended. He saw the swarm of spirits slowly close in on them, wondering what they were waiting for. "Let them make the first move."

So they did. Spirits lunged toward Luke in particular, and he swung his lightsaber into the first ones to reach him. On contact there was a bright flare of light, the spirits were cleaved in two, with the middle ends burning in blue ethereal flames. In a mere moment those spirits were consumed by the flames, their screeches silenced, and not even ashes were left behind. Luke swung his lightsaber into more spirits and got the same result, cleaving them in half before they burned up into nothing. More swings split and burned spirits, stopping them from landing any kind of attack on him.

Sokka was not so fortunate. While his space sword did cleave spirits in two, the halves immediately reconnected and made the spirits whole once more. His space shield did little to keep them at bay, for the spirits simply curved around the sides of the metal. The spirits wrapped themselves around Sokka's arms, legs, and torso, bound his limbs in their semi-corporeal forms, and lifted him off the ground. By the time Luke noticed Sokka was already out of reach, struggling to escape from the spirits' grip, screaming all the way.

"Not this again!" Sokka screamed.

"Hang on!" Luke yelled. He sliced through more and more spirits, trying to clear a path forward. "Get out of my way!"

The spirits carried Sokka away and deeper into the forest, and Luke cut through the spirits still nearby and chased after him. Luke quickly lost sight of him, as more spirits arrived to block the view. He cut through them anyway and kept on going, running straight to the middle of the forest. There the spirits carrying Sokka vanished and he vanished with them, and Luke realized that he had lost them. Now he was all alone here, looking back and forth for any sign of Sokka. Instead he found another source of light, one beneath his feet.

Underneath a thick layer of ice there was a bright sphere, its blue glow a much lighter shade than Luke's lightsaber. He stabbed the ice with the lightsaber, got a shower of sparks as the melting water threatened to short out the weapon, and took his time cutting through the ice. He cut the ice into several small chunks and lifted them out, uncovering the bright sphere below. Luke dropped into the pit he made and stood next to the bright sphere, then put his hand on the surface, feeling something unlike anything he had ever felt before.

"They must be guarding this," Luke muttered. He held up his lightsaber and looked up at the storm above him. "Bring Sokka back! Or I will destroy this!"

There was no response of any kind, so Luke carried out his threat. Or he tried to. Luke slashed the sphere with his lightsaber, but it didn't leave a mark on the surface. Confused, Luke slashed the sphere a few more times, to no effect. This time he stabbed the sphere, and saw the blade end at the surface, unable to penetrate whatever the sphere was made of. He even tried burying the blade up to the hilt, but still inflicted no damage to the sphere. Luke shut off the lightsaber and put it away, then put his hand back on the surface.

Looking into the surface of the blue sphere, Luke could almost swear he saw his reflection in its glow. "What is this thing?"

* * *

Looking into the surface of the red sphere, Darth Vader realized something important.

"There is another…"


	25. Reverse Polarity

Chapter 25: Reverse Polarity

"Ben!" Ben I need help!"

Luke's call for aid echoed through the forest, and in response the ethereal blue form of Kenobi appeared before him. _"What troubles you Luke?"_

"Sokka's gone!" Luke answered, eyes still looking for him anywhere. "Spirits took him! I don't know where they went!"

Kenobi nodded, closed his eyes, and focused on the Force. Through his connection to Luke he found the emotional bond to Sokka, and used that to search for him. Kenobi shook his head and opened his eyes. _"I'm sorry. I do not sense this Sokka anywhere."_

"It was only a few minutes ago!" Luke yelled, now wondering how someone could just disappear like that. "Where could they have gone?"

" _These spirits may have returned to their own realm,"_ Kenobi suggested. _"If they brought your friend there, it will be very difficult to find him. Not unless he has a spiritual connection, or is sensitive to the Force."_

"Pretty sure he's neither," Luke said.

" _Then there is nothing we can do,"_ Kenobi said.

"Not here anyway," Luke said. He started walking out of the forest, lightsaber in hand to see the way, and Kenobi remained beside him. "Can you send word to Aang for me? Tell him what happened down here?"

" _I will,"_ Kenobi said, and he disappeared.

Luke moved a brisk pace, wanting to get out of this forest before the spirits returned for him. His eyes stayed on the path as he moved, lightsaber lighting the way through the forest. Along the way he thought he saw more spirits in the trees, as if they were waiting for an opportunity to strike. The spirits were staying just far enough away for him to be uncertain if they were even there or not, like a trick of the light that dared to fool his eyes. Yet he felt their presence all around him, following him all the way out of the forest.

Soon Luke spotted light up ahead, coming from the airspeeder's headlights, revealing the end of the path. The vehicle was still right where he left it, beckoning for him to come and get out of this dark place. Once he was out of the forest he shut off his lightsaber and put it away, then climbed into the airspeeder as quickly as he could. Once inside he turned the engine on and the airspeeder lifted off, heading into the air and through the storm. It took a while to pass through the storm again, but soon enough Luke was flying in a clear blue sky.

Now that he actually had time to think about what had happened, one particular thought crossed his mind. "Leia is not going to be happy about this…"

* * *

"Of all the times for Luke to be away…"

Leia was not at all happy with the situation, having multiple problems to deal with. Luke having taken off with an airspeeder was the least of it, and not knowing where he went was a matter that would have to wait. Currently alone in a small room aboard one of the landed ships, Leia was reading classified reports of rebel activities across the galaxy. Ships were in retreat on every front, the inevitable outcome from the galaxy-wide distraction. They would not be in position for another offensive for some time, which was going to cause problems in the short term.

In times like this, simply having Luke around seemed to make things better. She wasn't sure if it was his belief in the Force or his optimistic outlook, whatever it was he had always took the edge off a bad situation. Leia would have to do without it for now, and would have to deal with someone else's more cynical attitude. After finishing the latest report Leia made a decision, made a call to another part of the ship, and waited for someone to get up here. Leia took a moment to make herself look more presentable, even if it was wasted on this smuggler.

When the door opened Leia watched him come in, putting on a smile even though she didn't mean it. "Han, glad you could come by."

"What do you need?" Han asked. He took a seat next to Leia, thinking he might be here for a while. "I was in the middle of something."

"I'm sure you were," Leia said. She got straight to the matter at hand. "It's likely that the Empire we be back sooner than we thought. We need to start ferrying benders up to the fleet immediately. Is the _Falcon_ ready for that?"

"She will be in a couple of hours," Han answered. "Chewy is working on the engines right now. He needs to repair a few parts before putting it all back together."

Leia sighed. "Figures…"

"Don't you have other ships to ferry people?" Han asked.

"They are ferrying people," Leia pointed out. "But we need as many as we can for this. Even one more ship would help a lot."

Han threw his hands up. "Sorry princess, my hands are tied. The _Falcon_ isn't going anywhere until Chewy is done."

"I think I can spare a repair team or two," Leia suggested.

"They'd only slow Chewy down," Han said.

"Fine," Leia said, knowing better than to challenge Han's faith in the wookie's ability. "You go back and help him then. Let me know when the _Falcon_ is ready."

"Will do," Han said. He got up and headed for the door, but stopped just before leaving the room. "By the way, when we finally leave this rock, I might need to borrow some of these benders for a personal matter."

"We'll see," Leia said, waving her hand in a dismissive manner. "You can go now."

Han left without another word, leaving Leia alone in the room. She went back to the computer terminal in here, pulling up the schedule of transports moving between the planet surface and orbit. Each record was attached with a list of locals carried aboard that particular ship, detailing identities and specific bending abilities. The vast majority were earthbenders, followed by a small amount of firebenders, and then a mere handful of waterbenders. Already there were reports of sickness from those earthbenders, which they had been told to expect on the way up.

Leia leaned back and closed her eyes, wishing that the day was over already. "This could have gone a lot better."

* * *

In the city of Gaoling, Katara watched the people prepare to leave.

The rebels had given the message to the entire city, telling the populace that they would be taking people off Earth before the Empire would return. But it would not be a mandatory evacuation, for there was not enough room for everyone. Those that wished to remain here would be allowed to stay, and the rebels wished them luck with resisting the Empire in the future. Of those that wished to go with the rebels into space, preference was given to those with bending abilities. They and their families would be boarding the first transports out, and were forewarned about the effects of traveling in space.

Katara watched the first transports land outside Gaoling, sent from the larger ships in orbit for this task. She saw entire families get moving, heading for the transports to leave the whole world behind. It was the start of an exodus unlike any seen on Earth, the people leaving their homes to travel farther than anyone from this world had ever gone before. She felt sorry for those that had to be left behind, either for asking too late or simply choosing to stay here. There wasn't anything she could do about it, though that thought didn't do anything about the guilt.

She couldn't help but wonder where most of the people would end up, as she had no idea which planets the rebels would send civilians to for safety. She knew they wouldn't send everyone to the base on Hoth, it being one of the most inhospitable places imaginable, and no place to waste resources on people that wouldn't be any help there. Katara imagined various other planets the rebels could send people to, places without bases that needed to be kept secret. The galaxy was bigger than she could possibly imagine, with planets beyond count, and it was comforting to think about that.

It was the middle of the afternoon when Katara walked into the center of Gaoling, where she found Ty Lee taking messages from a courier. "Hey, are any of those for me?"

Ty Lee flipped through the handful of envelopes, checking the names of each one, and did not find Katara's. "Nope. Sorry."

"Oh," Katara said. Then she remembered another matter, something that she wished she had asked about upon her return to Earth. "Have you heard anything about Toph? I thought she would have been involved in the fighting here. But I haven't seen her anywhere."

"No idea," Ty Lee answered, adding a shrug of her shoulders. "As far as I've heard, no one's seen or heard from her in a while."

"Oh," Katara muttered, disappointed and wondering where her friend was. "It's just that I've never thought she would skip out on a fight."

Ty Lee settled on one particular envelope, knowing that the recipient was nearby. "Excuse me, I've got to deliver these."

"Yeah, sure," Katara said. She watched Ty Lee leave, and she resumed her walk through Gaoling. It wasn't long before she spotted someone else she knew. "Hey Aang, what's going on?"

"There you are," Aang said, running up to Katara after being in a hurry. "We've got a big problem. Sokka's been abducted by spirits."

"What?" Katara blurted out. "How? Where? Why? When?"

"Not sure, at the South Pole trespassing I guess, and about half an hour ago," Aang answered. "Kenobi just told me."

"Your ghost friend," Katara said, remembering when Aang described Kenobi to him earlier. "He's certain about this?"

"He is," Aang said. "Apparently Luke was there and saw the whole thing."

"And he didn't stop it!" Katara yelled.

"Kenobi says he tried," Aang said, having just his word to go on. "Spirits aren't the kind of thing he's used to dealing with."

"Aren't spirits your department?" Katara asked.

"Spirits and I are not on the best of terms," Aang admitted. "Believe me. I tried to ask them for help. It did not go so well."

"There's got to be something we can do," Katara said.

"I'm sure there is," Aang said. He was silent for a few seconds thinking about it. "I just don't know what that is."

Katara groaned. "We should go tell Leia about this right now. Maybe she can do something about it. Maybe."

* * *

"Come on work this time!"

After his meeting with the royal pain in his backside, Han had gone back to the _Millennium Falcon_ to work on much needed maintenance with Chewbacca. Naturally, the attempt to make something work ended up making it worse, resulting in a power regulator malfunctioning for no apparent reason, adding to the list of problems with the _Falcon_ that needed to be fixed. Han had spent ten minutes trying to make it work properly, having trouble with it the entire time. After the fourth attempt the power regulator started working again, only for something else to break down and require repair.

"Of course…" Han grumbled. He moved to the rear end of the ship, took off a panel on the wall to uncover some parts, and stuck his head and arms in to deal with the problem. "Knew we should have replaced you last time…"

A third hand and completely worn out junction box was the culprit, blue smoke coming out of cracks in the metal, smelling of fried wires and singed circuitry. Han opened it up and pulled out the bad parts, which were most of the parts, and replaced them with whatever he had on hand. The end result was a convoluted mess of wires too big for the junction box, and Han had to stuff it into the wall while he put the panel back into place. Afterwards Han flipped a switch to send power through the junction box, and was relieved when nothing else broke down.

"Alright Chewy, fire it up," Han said. He heard some systems come online, and they sounded better than usual. "Okay, let's move on to the weapons."

Chewbacca grumbled something from the cockpit.

"Fine, you can have the dorsal guns," Han said. He headed to the ladder between the two sets of blaster turrets, saw Chewbacca go up, and Han went down to the bottom. But when he glanced through the windows he saw something unexpected. "Huh…"

On the other side there was a group of locals, each individual looking at one part of the ship or another. Han made the turret swivel around, surprising and frightening the locals, which got most of them to scatter. One local in particular did not leave, and she looked like the kind of person Han would like to look at a while longer. Tall, beautiful, wearing plenty of leather, and she was winking at him through the window. Unlike the others that left, she seemed more interested in Han than the ship, judging by the toss of her hair while she looked at him.

Han pointed towards the entrance ramp, and the woman nodded before walking that way. Han then climbed back up the ladder to the main part of the ship, and then he walked to the entrance and got there before the woman did. Han saw the woman flip her long hair back, though the bangs still covered most of one eye. Now Han noticed the whip she was carrying, and it looked like it saw plenty of use for various purposes. She smiled again, and Han smiled back, and they met halfway down the ramp, getting to see each other up close.

"Hello ma'am," Han said. "I don't believe I have had the privilege, miss…"

"June," she said, with a very slight curtsy. "I didn't realize aliens would be so handsome."

Han laughed. "Alright, what do you want?"

"Excuse me?" June asked.

"I see what you're trying to do," Han said. He crossed his arms and smirked. "Charm me out for some tech, expecting me to just hand it out, but I won't be falling for it."

June pushed some of her hair back. "Okay… let's say that's right, what then?"

"Well…" Han said, thinking about the matter. He did like listening to June's voice, and could imagine all sorts of sounds she might make. "I'm sure I can find something for you to do."

The tone of his voice was universal, and June liked the way he said it. "Whatever you have in mind, I'm game."

Han smiled, waved his hand toward the inside of the ship, and walked in with June beside him. "Come on, let me show you around…"

* * *

After a brief interrogation, Kori was thrown back into her cell.

For the most part she wasn't harmed, aside from a few bruises here and there, among other aches and pangs in various places. The imperial officer had been in a hurry and only asked the essential questions, and he hadn't been willing to wait for her to break. Kori got the feeling that he didn't want to do that job, and only put in minimal effort because of that. The officer did make it clear that there were harsher methods available, and promised to use them at a later time, when they could take all the time in the world.

Now she was back in her cell next to Haru's, thrown into it by the stormtroopers without a second thought. The fall on the floor hurt more than the halfhearted torture, and it wasn't hard to make the pained groan sound worse than it actually was. Kori stood back up as the cell door was closed, locking her back inside again with nothing she could do about it. She put her hands on the bars as the stormtroopers moved on, certain that the imperials would do the same to Haru, and wondering how he would deal with the interrogation.

The imperial officer scoffed and shook his head, heading to the next cell to look at Haru sitting in there. "I do hope you will be more forthcoming than her."

"Somehow, I doubt it," Haru said. He saw one of the stormtroopers made a very slight nod, and he wasn't entirely sure what to make of it. "But, do what you will."

The other stormtrooper opened the cell door and went inside, grabbing Haru by the arm to lift him up. "Come on, let's go."

However, the first stormtrooper had other plans. The blaster was raised and aimed at the officer, much to his shock, and the stormtrooper pulled the trigger. Stun setting took out the officer instantly, and a second shot took out the other stormtrooper. The stormtrooper nudged the victims with a boot, made sure they were properly stunned, and then put away the blaster. Haru was surprised and very confused, while Kori couldn't see it and was wondering what was going on. The stormtrooper grabbed the keys from the fallen officer and went back to Kori's cell, unlocking the door and letting her out.

"Did I miss something?" Kori asked. She stepped out of the cell and watched the stormtrooper enter Haru's cell. "What is going on here?"

The stormtrooper took off the helmet, revealing the face of Suki underneath. "You know, it is really easy to impersonate those guys."

Not knowing who this woman was or what she wanted, Kori was even more confused. "Okay, who are you?"

"It's Suki," she answered, and she passed the blaster to Haru. "Come on, we've only got a minute before others come up here."

"I trust you have a plan?" Haru asked. He switched the blaster from stun to kill, and then aimed it at the only stairwell out of here. "One blaster and no earth to bend aren't going to cut it."

Suki crouched and put one hand on the floor, surprising Kori and Haru again when her palm started to glow. "Check this out."

She fired a small energy blast from her hand, which blew open a person sized hole in the floor. Kori was surprised by this feat, and Haru was more than impressed by it. The noise also alerted imperials throughout the building, and the stormtroopers already on their way quickened their pace. Suki dropped down to the next floor below, Haru and Kori were right behind her. She blasted through a few more floors, confusing and infuriating the stormtroopers showing up at the top floor. Then Suki blasted a hole in the wall, letting in the sunlight to brighten this room.

Through the hole Haru saw the next building over, its roof one floor lower than where they were standing. "Let me guess, we have to jump."

Suki already got a running start, leapt through the hole, and made it across the gap to the next building over. There she looked back and the others. "Come on!"

Haru made the leap next, got across the gap, barely making it to the edge of the building. Kori was right after him, but her foot barely reached the edge, and she slipped off completely. Haru caught her by the arm and stopped her fall, and Suki helped him lift Kori back onto the roof. They got moving again just in time, as there were stormtroopers coming up to the hole on the wall. Suki led the run to the far side of the building, while the stormtroopers started shooting stun shots at them. At the far side there were stairs leading down the side of the building, intended for quick escape during a fire.

At the bottom of the stairs they set foot on solid ground, a welcome relief for the two earthbenders. They needed to put it to use right away, as another detachment of stormtroopers was approaching on ground level. Kori raised an earth wall to block one end of the alley they found themselves in, and shots from stormtroopers on the other side hit the wall harmlessly. Haru made little holes in the wall for his blaster to shoot through, taking out a few stormtroopers that got too close. Suki fired more energy blasts the other way, taking out stormtroopers that tried to flank them.

"Any ideas on where we go from here?" Suki asked.

"I thought you had this planned," Haru said.

"Had to put it together in a hurry," Suki admitted. She shot down another stormtrooper. "I thought we could get farther on the roofs."

"Well we don't have to," Kori said. She raised another earth wall in front of Suki, blocking off that end of the alley. "I know this city. We can get to one of the hidden paths from here."

She demonstrated by earthbending a shaft into the ground, pushing all that dirt and stone into the bedrock below. All three of them jumped down into the shaft, Kori picked a direction to go, and she started earthbending a new tunnel. Haru moved enough rock to cover their entrance, making the alley look as smooth as it had been before. That put them in total darkness, which did not bother any of them. Kori earthbent a path forward, Haru put the rock back after they passed through, and Suki stayed in the middle trusting that the earthbenders knew what they were doing.

Soon Kori's earthbending breached another tunnel, and light from dim lanterns came in. "See, one of the hidden paths, as promised."

Suki entered that path after Kori, impressed that it had been here all along. "Alright, where does it lead?"

"Away," Kori answered. "That's really all that matters right now."

Haru finished filling in the tunnel Kori had made, doing his best to conceal their passage. "This trick isn't going to fool them. We really need to get moving before they start dropping bombs."

"Yeah," Suki said. She turned toward Kori. "Lead the way."

* * *

Hurrying through the tunnel network beneath the Fire Nation capital, Zuko made his way across the city. He could feel the bombs hitting imperial installations, most striking the palace and the defenses there. Along the way he saw other people using the tunnels, all seeking shelter from the assault above. Zuko made his way to one particular passage, which led to the dragon catacombs in the eastern part of the underground. From there he took a stairwell up to the surface, activated another firebending lock here, opening a false floor above the stairwell.

Zuko emerged inside the capital's Fire Sage temple, the largest temple in the entire Fire Nation. There he took in the view, and he did not like it. "By Agni, all over again…"

One bomb had knocked down the outer wall of the temple, and he could see most of the city through it. Much of it had been bombed into oblivion, undoing most of the work done to rebuild the city. He saw the rebel ships flying over the city dropping more bombs, destroying every place that even looked like imperials controlled them. The palace was holding up better than everything else, a testament to the imperial engineering put into the construction. Large chunks of it had been destroyed, but the base and middle levels were still mostly intact.

Zuko walked up to the hole in the temple wall, took in the sight a little longer, and slammed his fist on the broken wall. "All that work for nothing!"

The rebel ships in the sky finished one more bombing run, and then they flew away from the capital back to wherever they came from. They were not replaced and the sky was quickly emptied, leaving Zuko thinking that the attack was finished. Looking at the city it seemed like every imperial installation had been hit, and there was nothing left for the ships to attack, aside from the damaged palace that was somehow still standing. Zuko was surprised by the lack of imperial ships responding to the situation, nothing coming down to replace the ones destroyed during the bombing.

When he had seen enough Zuko turned around and headed into the temple, the part that was open to the public. Within a grand hall there was a shrine to the sun spirit Agni, flanked by statues of mighty dragons facing him. There were Fire Sages tending to the shrine as always, even with everything going on in the city. They saw Zuko walking in, knew why he would come here, and they quickly got to work. Three of them put their hands on different dragon emblems on the shrine, firebent some flames into them, and the shrine slid back to reveal another hidden passage.

"Thank you," Zuko said. He walked down steps into the hidden passage, entering a large room kept underneath the temple. "Is this really all we have left?"

About thirty people were in this large room, some of whom had been living in here for some time, the few things they possessed being scattered around the place. They were all that remained of the original firebender inhabitants of the capital, the rest either long dead or long deserted. About half of them only had the clothes on their back, and had arrived not long before Zuko did. The Fire Sages had offered this place to shelter those that needed it, particularly for those that needed to remain hidden from the imperial occupation. Now Zuko needed them, and they all knew it.

"We're ready," one firebender said. "Whatever you need us to do, we're at your service Fire Lord."

"Do not call me that," Zuko insisted. He walked up to the firebender who did, slightly taller than he was, and looked him in the eye. "Everyone knows that title is nothing more than a sham."

The firebender nodded. "Understood, Zuko."

Zuko nodded, and walked in front of the group, silently admitting that this would have to do. "Alright everyone, the attack seems to be over. The imperials are at their weakest, and we're only going to have once chance. We need to hit them hard, and we need to hit them fast."

The whole group nodded, knowing that Zuko was right. This was the time to fight, and they knew that not all of them would make it back.

* * *

Staring at the red sphere before him, Darth Vader got to work.

He turned on his lightsaber, its glow a deeper red than the sphere, and stabbed the surface with the blade. He buried the blade all the way to the hilt, and then pulled the lightsaber out. But the sphere was completely unmarked, as if he hadn't stabbed it at all. Next he swung the lightsaber back and forth, seeing it do no damage whatsoever. It left him quite impressed by the sphere, as there were very few materials that could withstand a lightsaber. Now knowing that the lightsaber was useless here, Vader shut it off and put the lightsaber away.

He held his hands toward the portal, focused on the Force, and spread his hands apart. There was resistance against him, something pushing back through the Force, unlike anything he had felt before. A ripple passed through the sphere, followed by a vertical line appearing down the middle. The sphere began to split there, a few centimeters at first and growing to a meter deep divide. But the splitting stopped there, and the resistance through the Force became insurmountable. No matter how hard Vader pushed, the sphere would not split any further.

Vader relented, his hands dropped, and the sphere became whole again. "One is not enough."

Unable to do anything more here, and nothing more to learn about the red sphere, Vader turned around and walked back out of the forest. He returned to his TIE Fighter where he left it, got inside, and flew it away from this place. It only took a few moments to get back into space, trading the darkness of the night for the darkness of the void. Yet while his body left the Earth his mind remained in that forest, his thoughts focused entirely on that red sphere and what lay within. It was like something inside called to him, and he needed to know what it was.

The situation in space brought his mind to the present reality, finally taking the time to notice what was going on around Earth. He saw the distinct lack of imperial ships in orbit, and the rebel ships that had taken their place. Rubble from a destroyed Star Destroyer littered the space around the equator, already starting to settle into a temporary ring system. He figured the others had left at one point or another, giving up this backwater planet rather than risk losing more ships to the rebels. Although certain imperial ships would return, Vader felt the need for a little more encouragement.

Vader opened a hyperwave channel, using his personal encryption codes, and made contact with an admiral on Coruscant. "Admiral, there is a bad situation at Earth."

" _I'm aware,"_ the admiral reported. _"The fleet is gathering as we speak. It will be ready to deploy by tomorrow."_

"What is the status of Death Squadron?" Vader requested. "Which ship was destroyed?"

" _That would be the_ Conquest _,"_ the admiral answered. _"In addition to the vacant spot left by the_ Stalker _, two Star Destroyers are needed to restore Death Squadron to full force."_

Vader checked a list of Star Destroyers, their commanding officers and crew compliment, and made a decision. "Assign the _Nemesis_ , _Stormhawk_ , _Thunderflare_ , and _Relentless_ to temporary service. Whichever ships perform better will be given permanent places on Death Squadron."

" _Understood,"_ the admiral said.

"Over and out," Vader said, and he cut the transmission. Then he engaged the hyperdrive, starting the trip back to civilized space.


	26. Exodus

Chapter 26: Exodus

In the space around Coruscant, a fleet of Star Destroyers took shape yet again.

Now that rebel activity across the galaxy had ended, with a few exceptions in isolated systems, the majority of the Empire's resources could be redeployed elsewhere. Death Squadron was brought back together again, its two vacant spots up for grabs between four temporary members, and nearly ready to head out. Their destination would be Earth again, their mission to drive out the rebels that had taken the planet and its unique resources. All they needed was the order to depart, but that would have to wait for the arrival of Darth Vader.

Looking out at space from the bridge of the Executor, Grand Admiral Thrawn stood with his hands behind his back. His gaze moved from one ship to another, surveying the forces at his command. He heard the bridge crew hard at work, including those that were trying to look busy while someone was watching. Thrawn did nothing to dissuade those particular officers, understanding the boredom of waiting and wanting more important things to do. It was one thing to patiently wait for events to play out, but it was another to waste time waiting for someone he didn't need to arrive.

A customized TIE Fighter finally emerged from hyperspace, and Thrawn watched it approach the _Executor_. "Prepare the hangar for Darth Vader's arrival."

While that order was being carried out, Thrawn continued to wait on the bridge. He watched the hangar doors open and the TIE Fighter enter, and his view was over when the hangar doors closed. It took another ten minutes for Darth Vader to move from the hangar to the bridge, one of many drawbacks to Super Star Destroyers in Thrawn's opinion, and when Vader finally arrived Thrawn turned around to watch him enter. Everyone on the bridge silenced themselves as Darth Vader passed, and for a moment the only sound was Vader's automated breathing.

Darth Vader took a spot beside Thrawn, and both looked out into space. "I'm sure you have waited longer than you wanted. It is time the fleet departed."

Thawn nodded, and turned his head towards an officer. "Take us out."

The order was relayed throughout the fleet, and it was quickly carried out. Every ship aligned on the same vector, and one by one they made the jump to hyperspace. Last to leave was the _Executor_ , with Vader and Thrawn sharing the view of the stars changing to the blue void. It would take some time to complete this journey, even with the state of the art hyperdrives each Star Destroyer possessed. Vader and Thrawn turned away from the windows and walked through the bridge, looking at the bridge crew working at stations in the lower level.

"Was it really necessary for you to come to us?" Thrawn asked. They stopped and Vader looked him in the eye. "Your ship came all the way from Earth. We could have rendezvous there."

"I would prefer to lead this attack personally," Vader said. "The rebels do not know all the secrets hidden on Earth. We have the time to make sure we do this right."

Thrawn nodded, appreciating this small bit of patience Vader demonstrated from time to time. "Very well. If you insist, we will do this your way."

* * *

After a trip that felt way too long, Luke brought the airspeeder in for a landing in Gaoling. There was a suitable spot near the edge of the city, not far from the large ships that landed here. A few rebels Luke knew were waiting there, ready to take the airspeeder off his hands now that he didn't need it anymore, none questioning where he had gone with it. After landing Luke got out and walked away from the airspeeder, heading straight for the largest of the ships nearby. He ignored everything and everyone he saw along the way, and he reached the ship in just a few minutes.

Inside he went straight to a meeting room, where he found Leia with Aang and Katara, both of whom had gotten here just ahead of him and took seats around a table. "Good, you're all here. We need to talk."

"What happened?" Leia demanded.

"Something took Sokka away," Luke answered, the memory of it still vivid in his mind. He took a seat and looked at everyone else in turn. "I don't what exactly, these weird shadow snake things, but they took him away and I don't know where."

"Spirits," Aang said. He pinched the bridge of his nose, his irritation obvious to everyone. "Why did it have to be spirits?"

Leia turned toward him. "I take it you're familiar with this sort of thing?"

"Unfortunately," Aang answered. "There was only one time when spirits actually did something helpful, and it took the moon dying to make that happen."

"Do I want to know the story behind that?" Luke asked.

"Maybe later," Katara said. She put her arm on the table and looked at Aang. "Why would they take Sokka this time?"

"This time?" Leia questioned.

"Another long story," Aang said. He thought about the last time, when the spirit Hei Bai was abducting people in his forest. "I don't think it is like that. I mean, last time the spirit was mad over his home being destroyed. Nothing's happened to the South Pole recently, well nothing that I am aware of."

Katara turned back toward Luke. "Did Sokka mention anything out of the ordinary when you got there?"

"He didn't know what ordinary would be like there," Luke said. "This was his first time visiting the Everstorm. He had no idea what to expect there."

"Wait, did you say Everstorm?" Aang asked. He saw Luke nod. "The monks told me that it's been raging for centuries. It's apparently older than all of human history."

"Did they say anything about a glowing blue orb at the center?" Luke asked.

"No," Aang said. "But it does sound vaguely familiar, though I'm not sure why."

"Maybe the spirits were protecting it?" Katara guessed.

"That would be my best guess," Aang said. "Still, it doesn't help us any. Sokka's still gone, and we have no idea how to get him back this time."

"And I'm afraid we have bigger issues," Leia said. "Our spies in the Empire are reporting a big fleet deployment. The Empire is on its way back here, and we need to be gone before they arrive. We can't stay to deal with a problem none of us have any idea how to solve."

Aang slammed his fist on the table, suppressed the need to curse in frustration, and realized that there was no changing that particular fact. "How much time do we have?"

"A day at most," Leia answered. "And I want to be gone by half a day. For all we know the Empire could be redlining their engines to get here faster than we expect them."

"Yeah, bad picture, we get it," Katara said. Reminded of that, she wondered about something else. "How many people did you get on your ships? And how many more can you get up there in time?"

"About two thousand already, we could probably get another five hundred before we leave," Leia answered. She didn't like the low numbers, but it was difficult to get the word out quickly in a preindustrial society. "I wish we could do better, but there isn't enough time."

"There never is," Aang grumbled.

* * *

"Okay, time for you to go."

Han was in a better mood than usual, no small thanks to the lovely lady he had invited aboard. After their little bit of fun Han had gone back to work on the _Falcon_ , having a much better time dealing with issues than he had been earlier today. Course, he had left June in his quarters earlier, and she had taken her time in coming out. Having no further reason to keep her on the ship, Han wanted her gone as soon as possible. It wouldn't do to have her roaming the ship while he was trying to get some work done, especially when he might have to leave at a moment's notice.

"So that's it then?" June asked. Her hair was messier and her outfit considerably looser, and she walked through the ship on slightly wavering legs. "Bring me in, we have fun, and kick me out."

"Pretty much," Han bluntly answered. He was checking a display on a wall, surprised to find not one red alarm symbol anywhere. "Off you go now."

June walked away from him, and Han got back to work. For once everything seemed to be in order, nothing in need of immediate repair or replacement. That had Han worried that there would be some catastrophic failure at the worst possible time, like the hyperdrive not working during a frantic escape attempt. Yet when he checked that part it was working just fine, along with every other crucial part of the ship. Han checked the time, figured there was enough to work on less vital things, and so he went to the passenger rooms to get something from there.

And when he got there, he wasn't surprised by what he found. "I told you to leave."

June was lying on one of the beds, trying to make sense of the language one of Chewbacca's books was written in. "I know."

"Do I really need to get Chewy down here?" Han asked. "He's not too fond of people messing with his stuff. He's been known to rip their arms out."

June put the book back where she had found it, got up, and she stood in front of Han. "Alright, I'm going."

This time Han walked with June through the ship, just to be sure she would leave. However, on the way they heard a beeping sound, and Han went into the cockpit to answer an incoming transmission. "Yeah, what is it?"

Leia's voice came through the transmission. _"Finish what you're doing. Start loading up passengers. We're heading out by the end of the day."_

"Got it," Han said. He ended the transmission and looked at June. "Just… clean up in here. It's going to get real crowded real quick."

"What happened to getting rid of me?" June asked.

Han ignored that and went to another part of the ship, as close as he could get to where Chewbacca was working. "Chewy, we're heading out soon. Put that thing back together and get down here."

A loud roar was Chewbacca's answer.

"I know, I know," Han said. "We're only taking them to orbit and that's it. They're her highness's problem from there on out."

A slightly quieter roar came from Chewbacca.

"I'll keep them away from your stuff," Han promised. He turned away and walked through the ship again, this time heading for the entrance ramp, and halfway down he stopped and stared at what he saw outside. "Huh…"

There was a massive crowd in front of the _Falcon_ , and it was growing with every passing minute. Easily a few hundred people were here, of all shapes and sizes, all willing to leave this world and start a new life somewhere else. In the distance Han saw similar crowds around the other ships nearby, many of which were filling to capacity and about to take off. Han's gaze moved through the crowd in front of him, from the lone individuals to large families and everything in between. For a moment Han just stood there, and all eyes in the crowd were on him.

"That's a lot of people," Han muttered. He cleared his throat and raised his voice. "Okay, listen up. I only have room for a seventy people, a hundred if you're packed in like sardines. So whole families first, and stick together once your inside. The _Millennium Falcon_ is taking off once it's full."

Han walked back up the ramp, and the first families came aboard. They were also the first to see Chewbacca, and a roar from him announced his presence to everyone outside.

"Don't scare them off," Han said. He watched more people enter the ship, and then he went into the cockpit to start the engines. "Let's get this over with."

* * *

Having little reason to remain on Earth anymore, Luke had boarded the first transport back to _Home One_. It was the ship he preferred to stay on among the fleet, as he knew much of the crew and was on good terms with most of them. Luke was warmly greeted by the crew in the hangar, and he said hello to most of them as he passed through. From there he returned to a room granted to him during his visits, small and sparse but sufficient for his needs. It was the closest thing he had to a home now, having no real place to call his own.

Once inside the room Luke locked the door, wanting to be alone for a while without interruption. He sat on the floor in the middle of the room, legs crossed and hands together while his eyes were closed. He spent some time trying to clear his head, yet was having trouble with that simple task. His thoughts kept going back to what happened on the planet, all the various ways he had failed, the guilt ever present in his mind. Luke wanted to correct his mistake somehow, but he still had no idea how to do that.

In response to Luke's inner turmoil, the ghostly form of Kenobi appeared before him. _"I see you are troubled."_

"That's obvious," Luke said. He opened his eyes and looked at Kenobi sitting there. "If there's anything you know about this, I'm all ears."

Kenobi closed his eyes, thought long and hard about the matter, and then looked Luke in the eye. _"Go to the Dagobah system. There you will find Yoda, the Jedi Master who instructed me. Learn from him, and he may have the answers you need."_

"Are you sure?" Luke asked.

" _Yes,"_ Kenobi said. _"If anyone can help, it will be Yoda."_

Luke saw Kenobi fade away, and he was left alone again. Luke stood up and walked to a control panel on a wall, and he pressed a button to contact someone in this ship's hangar. "Lieutenant, its Skywalker, has Katara come aboard yet?"

The lieutenant took a moment to check the transport logs. _"No sir, she has not arrived yet."_

"Okay, good, could you send a message for me," Luke asked. He got a confirmation, and Luke continued. "Tell Katara to bring Aang along with her. I want to speak with them as soon as possible."

" _Will do sir,"_ the lieutenant said.

Luke cut the signal, and he returned to his spot on the floor. Back to the cross-legged position, Luke focused and waited. "Okay… Dagobah… it better be worthwhile."

* * *

It was time to go.

Aang didn't want to admit it, but that was the simple truth of the matter. The ships around Gaoling were taking off one by one, each bringing a full load of people up to the fleet in orbit. Although he didn't want to leave Earth behind, Aang knew it was the best course of action. The last half a year had proven the futility of fighting the Empire without help from the stars, and the only way to keep that help would be to leave with it. But Aang wanted to stay for as long as he could, and so he had scheduled a departure on the last ship that would leave Earth.

At the moment Aang was standing on the tallest building in Gaoling, where he had the best view of the lands outside the city, stretching from horizon to horizon in every direction. He took all the time he wanted with the view, wanting to keep it in his mind forever and ever. He also got to see the ships lifting off and heading into the sky, disappearing in the distance to the edge of space. Footsteps interrupted Aang's enjoyment of the view, and he turned to see Katara walking onto the rooftop. Aang turned back to the view, and Katara stood beside him.

"Sorry to interrupt," Katara said. "I just got a message from Luke. Apparently he wants to see you as soon as possible."

"Figures," Aang said. He sighed and looked Katara in the eye, wondering what this was about. "So where is he?"

"In space already," Katara answered, not liking what that meant for them. "That means we need to leave on the next ship."

"Of course," Aang grumbled. He picked up his staff and unfolded the glider. "Want one last flight, for old time's sake?"

Katara smiled. "Sure."

Each with one arm around the other's shoulders, and the other arm holding onto the glider, they leapt off the building. Katara screamed at first, an unavoidable habit, but the screams quickly morphed into laughs. Aang summoned the wind and they soared into the air, flying above the city and getting a bird's eye view. For fun's sake they took the scenic route, diving down to a mere thirty feet off the ground, weaving back and forth in between the taller buildings. People below them heard the laughs and looked up, most envious of the fun they were having.

Enjoying the sensation of flying through the air, Katara didn't want it to stop. Aang lifted them higher into the air again, as high as he could go with just the glider an airbending, though not as high as a sky bison could go. They saw the last of the buildings pass by underneath them, followed by the low wall that surrounded the city. Up ahead were the rebel ships, and Aang took Katara over them first, circling around while looking down while people were boarding. The rebels heard the joyful laughter from above and gave strange looks, which Aang and Katara completely ignored.

But the trip had to end sometime, despite them wanting to make last forever. They landed in front of one of the smaller ships, which they would take up into space. Katara's arms were tired after the flight, out of practice from not doing this with Aang in a long time, but it was worthwhile. Aang's smile couldn't be brighter, and he saw the same kind of smile on Katara. He folded his glider back into his staff and held it at his side, and with Katara on his other side they walked towards the ship, taking their time along the way.

"This is the next one to leave, right?" Aang asked.

Katara nodded. "Let's get on."

While there was a line of people waiting to board, Aang and Katara got to skip to the front and enter before everyone else. Once inside they quickly found seats next to a window, Aang sitting between it and Katara. They had to wait a little while for the ship to fill up with passengers, but soon enough the ship was full and the entrance was closed. Then the engines roared to life and the ship took off, and most of the passengers were nervous and having second thoughts about leaving. Those with window seats got to see the ground fall away, and most were able to enjoy the sight.

Aang in particular reveled in it, soon getting to see the world from even higher than a sky bison could fly. "This doesn't seem so bad."

"Wait for it," Katara warned, speaking from experience. "This next part hits some people harder than others."

That soon became apparent when the blue sky started shifting to black, where the air was thinning on the way to the edge of space. Earthbenders amongst the passengers began to feel sick, like something deep inside was being torn out of them. Plastic bags had been distributed before the flight, and most of the earthbenders quickly made use of them. Aang managed to keep his stomach down, but to Katara he looked even worse than the earthbenders. Eyes closed, one arm wrapped around his belly, Aang endured the pain as well he could.

"Yeah, this is not fun," Aang complained.

Katara looked back and forth between Aang and the earthbenders, and a thought crossed her mind. "Hey Aang, try to airbend in here."

"Okay," Aang said. He held out one hand and flexed his fingers, and his eyes went wide when nothing happened. "What the…"

"That's what I thought," Katara said, feeling bad that she was right. "It looks like airbending doesn't work in space either."

"Not enough air in this little ship," Aang said. "Also, the air feels… caged. There's no natural wind in here. Sure, it seems like fresh air, but it's like stale air to me."

"Are you going to be okay?" Katara asked.

"I think so," Aang said. He took in a deep breath, and it helped him feel better. "Water and fire still work up here, right?"

"Until we go into hyperspace," Katara answered. "I recommend getting as much sleep as you can before then. I find it helps make it more tolerable."

"I'll try that," Aang said. "Thanks for the advice."

* * *

When her ship took off, Leia barely noticed.

She was too busy dealing with reports from the fleet in orbit, as well as reports from across the rebellion's spy network. In addition to Death Squadron being on its way here, other Star Destroyers were attacking systems the Empire suspected of harboring rebel forces, eliminating several rendezvous points Leia had in mind for the fleet here. Already she had to pick a new system three times now, and the backup locations were less than ideal for a quick exit. Fortunately it didn't seem like any Star Destroyers were heading for Hoth, and so their secret base was safe for the moment.

Leia pressed a button to contact the ship's bridge. "Commander, pick up the pace. The sooner we get into hyperspace, the better."

" _Acknowledged,"_ the commander replied. _"We should be ready for departure within the hour."_

"Good," Leia said. "Let me know when we're about to make the jump."

" _Yes ma'am,"_ the commander replied.

"Over and out," Leia said. She looked at a monitor and pressed another button, making it display the view outside of the ship. "Okay, that looks like everyone."

She watched the other ships flying alongside this one, knowing each and every one of them. Some were passing her on their way into space, having better acceleration than this ship. That didn't matter to Leia in the slightest, well aware of the limitations of this particular ship. She even saw the _Millennium Falcon_ out there, moving more sluggish than normal, no doubt due to being filled to capacity and then some. Leia imagined Han being frustrated with the situation, no doubt cursing her name over the matter, and the thought had her smiling.

Leia watched the view of the sky gradually change from blue to black, the atmosphere becoming thinner with increasing altitude. The ship reached the edge of space and flew into the void, leaving the planet behind. Most of the other ships got there first, and the view allowed her to see them flying into formation in orbit. One by one the smallest ships flew into the hangars of the larger ships waiting for them, _Home One_ in particular receiving the most passengers. Then Leia turned her attention back to her work, at least until her ship would dock with _Home One_.

A beeping noise alerted her to an incoming transmission, and Leia pressed a button to answer the call. "Yes."

" _Hey Leia, its Luke. I know its short notice, but I need to borrow an X-Wing for a while."_

"What for?" Leia asked. "Where are you going this time?"

" _I need to go to the Dagobah system,"_ Luke answered.

"The what system?" Leia asked, not recognizing that name.

" _Please, just trust me on this,"_ Luke insisted. _"I need to go to Dagobah if I'm going to straighten this mess out."_

"Fine," Leia grumbled. "Just don't lose anyone else this time."

" _I promise I will try,"_ Luke said.

The transmission ended before Leia could say anymore, and she grumbled a complaint to herself. "Luke… you better know what you're doing."

* * *

"Come on R2, get in there."

Standing in the hangar of the ship he was in, Luke had brought the little astromech droid along, despite its protests. For some reason he couldn't fathom R2-D2 didn't want to get in the X-Wing, even when Luke had asked nicely. Sure it wasn't the usual X-Wing they would fly together, but Luke didn't consider that a good reason to avoid it. R2-D2 beeped his complaints, but eventually conceded to Luke's request. The droid was lifted up and over the X-Wing by an automated machine, gently placed into the slot for the droid behind the X-Wing's cockpit.

By then Luke recognized two people walking towards him, happy to see them here. "Katara, Aang, glad you could come by."

Having come to terms with double space sickness, Aang was feeling fine when he walked up to Luke. "So why did you need us to come up so quickly?"

"Yeah, what's going on?" Katara asked.

"I got a lead on where we can learn about the supernatural," Luke answered. "There's someone waiting in the Dagobah system. Aang, I was wondering if you might want to come with me."

"Really?" Aang questioned. "Are you sure that's a good idea? Last time you ran off with someone, Sokka didn't come back."

"I know," Luke said. "And that was my fault. I should have known better and left things alone. So I have to make things right. If Kenobi is right about this Yoda person, then I have to go to him. If you don't want to come along, I understand."

Aang nodded. "Okay then, I'm going with you."

"Really?" Katara questioned. She looked Aang in the eye. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Aang said. He turned back to Luke. "I have a good feeling about this one. "I'm not sure why, but it's there. I want to see where it leads."

"Okay then," Luke said. He grabbed a ladder on the side of the X-Wing and started climbing. "We're just about ready to go."

Luke reached the top of the ladder, opened the X-Wing's cockpit hatch, and he dropped down into the seat. He heard Aang climb up after him, and then saw Aang looking down into the cockpit, staff still in hand. Luke adjusted the seat forward as far as it would go, making enough room for Aang to get into another seat behind him. The cockpit hatch was closed, Luke fired up the engines, and Aang felt the vibrations through his seat. Meanwhile the hangar doors were opened, with special force fields keeping the air inside, and everyone in the hangar got out of the way.

"Here we go," Luke said, his hand on the throttle. "Hold onto something."

The X-Wing lifted off the floor, and then shot forward into space. Aang laughed with exhilaration, enjoying the thrill of fast flight. At a safe distance away the X-Wing turned back towards the bigger ship, turning to fly in the same direction as the entire fleet. The fleet was making one last pass over the Earth Kingdom, getting around the planet one more time. Soon the ships were facing a specific patch of stars, where the Hoth system lay many hundreds of light-years away. The X-Wing faced a slightly different direction, and it stayed behind the rest of the fleet.

"Check this out," Luke said. He tilted the X-Wing a bit, giving Aang a better view of the fleet. "Should be leaving any second now…"

One by one the ships lunged forward, disappearing in the blink of an eye. Here one second, gone the next, Aang couldn't fathom the speeds involved. In under a minute the entire fleet made the jump to hyperspace, leaving just the X-Wing still in Earth's orbit. Luke adjusted the X-Wing's vector again, put the coordinates of Dagobah into the navigation computer, and engaged the hyperdrive. Aang felt his body pushing into his seat, saw the stars turn into streaks and then be replaced by a blue void, and felt his stomach sink farther than he could imagine.

"Oh man…" Aang grumbled, looking down and wrapping one arm around his stomach. "That is not good."

"Are you okay back there?" Luke asked.

"No," Aang answered. The other arm wrapped around his gut, but did little to deal with losing two more elements. "This is, by far, the worst."

His vision was already darkening around the edges, and Aang leaned forward to rest his head on the back of Luke's seat. He felt completely empty inside, as if everything had been ripped out and replaced with a bottomless void. But then something emerged from deeper within, a source of power disconnected from the world outside his body. Aang's eyes and tattoos glowed bright blue with that power, and the glow filled the entire cockpit with its light. The Avatar State filled the void in Aang's gut, and yet there was none of the usual destruction around it.

Luke turned his head to look back, seeing Aang hold his head up and letting him see the glowing eyes. "Is that something you do all the time?"

The glow left Aang, and he was feeling as good as normal. "Yeah, I do that when I need a power up. I don't think it's helping my bending right now, but it made me feel a lot better."

"What exactly is it?" Luke asked.

"The Avatar State," Aang answered. "Just another part of being the Avatar, I can do that whenever I want to, and when my life is in danger."

"Good to know," Luke said. "So how exactly does it work?"

"I'm not exactly sure how to phrase it," Aang said. "It would probably take a lot of time to get the whole thing right."

"This is going to be a long trip," Luke said. He looked at the controls and checked the time to destination. "I think you have the time to tell it."


	27. Retribution

Chapter 27: Retribution

Not even an hour after the attack from above ended, there was an attack from below.

From the network of tunnels underneath the Fire Nation capital, Zuko and his assorted firebenders attacked the palace. The underground levels were filled with flames, incinerating every imperial that happened to be in their way. From there they made their way up to the main part of the palace, burning every target they came across. Unprepared imperials fell by the score, and their charred remains littered the floor of the palace. Even stormtroopers fell to the flames, cooked inside of their armor, their blasters taken by the firebenders.

Soon they reached the operations center within the palace, but by then the imperials inside were aware of the danger and had sealed the entrance. But while the doors would not open from the outside, Zuko would not let that deter him. With help from half a dozen other firebenders, they shot continuous streams of fire at the doors, combining the flames and focusing the heat on one small spot, far more powerful than the sum of their parts. More firebenders joined in on the inferno, heating the metal even further and to the melting point, making it glow red with heat.

On the other side imperial officers saw the doors glow red hot, starting in the middle and spreading outward. The metal began to melt and drip into a puddle on the floor, and soon flames slipped through a new hole in the doors. More and more flames shot through the hole, and the officers backed away from the intense heat. A few imperials tried to use fire extinguishers on the blaze, a woefully insufficient defense against a group of firebenders. In moments there was a person sized hole, a large puddle of molten metal on the floor, and the operations center was breached.

The firebending did not stop, but spread out to fill the room with flames. Once the screams stopped Zuko held up a fist, the firebending ceased, and he looked into the room. "All clear."

The puddle of molten metal quickly cooled and hardened, and Zuko was the first to pass through the hole and enter the operations center. The bodies inside had been reduced to piles of ashes and charred bones, and Zuko did his best to avoid staring at them. The equipment in the room was relatively untouched, still functioning and in perfect working order. The other firebenders followed him inside, most baffled by the technology in here. The monitors were displaying various kinds of information, and Zuko struggled to make sense of most of it.

But there was one monitor even Zuko could understand, for it showed a list of starship names, complete with icons representing the kind of ships. "This is bad. We need to leave."

One firebender spoke what the others were thinking. "Why is that?"

"They've got reinforcements on the way," Zuko answered. "And they are not going to be happy with what we've done to the place."

* * *

One by one the ships of Death Squadron emerged from hyperspace, the seven Star Destroyers and one Super Star Destroyer returning to normal space. The _Executor_ took point on approach, weapons armed and ready to fire at anything in range. But there was nothing to shoot, the space around Earth devoid of ships, having only the debris from the earlier battle here. Three of the Star Destroyers broke formation and flew ahead of the fleet, moving around the planet to aim sensors on the far side. Even then they did not detect any ships, rebel or otherwise.

"Well…" Thrawn said, looking at the planet from the _Executor's_ bridge. "This is disappointing."

Standing next to him, seeing the same sights Thrawn did, Darth Vader nodded. "It seems the rebels left while they still could."

"A wise strategy," Thrawn commented. "Still, it seems we gathered this large fleet for nothing."

"Not entirely," Vader disagreed. He turned towards the bridge crew. "Take us into orbit. Order the fleet into ring formation around the planet. Restore communications with ground forces and have them report their situations. I want to know what the rebels did while they were here."

The orders were carried out, and Death Squadron approached the planet. One by one the ships entered orbit, taking positions above the equator equal distance from each other, like a giant ring when viewed from above. Each ship scanned the surface for the imperial forces left behind, checking to see if any of them were still there anymore. A few installations reported in right away, some had delays or garbled signals of some kind, but many did not respond to signals. Those that could respond reported on their current conditions, and a clear picture began to form.

Most of the imperial installations had been attacked in one form or another, most in the form of aerial bombardment. The larger ones had been hit the hardest, while the smaller ones were left untouched. Bases in the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom capitals had been bombed into near oblivion, currently unable to respond in any way whatsoever. All accounts had the rebel forces leaving just as quickly as they had arrived, and imperial ground forces were still in the clean-up effort after the attacks, and the men down there were grateful to have communications reestablished.

After hearing enough from the reports, Thrawn gave new orders. "Reinforce the bases that responded to our hails. Deploy scouts to the bases that did not. If they find anyone still alive, extract them. We'll rebuild those facilities after we've stabilized the situation."

Meanwhile, Vader had other orders in mind. "Ready the probe droids in holographic mode. I want to send a message to the entire planet."

Thrawn looked at Vader, and then back to the officers relaying the orders for them. "Make sure the extractions are completed before the droids are deployed. We should avoid any unfortunate misunderstandings."

The officers glanced at Vader, saw no discernible reaction to Thrawn's counter order, and proceeded to carry out the orders. "As you command."

* * *

A few miles to the east of Yu Dao, Kori opened an exit to the tunnels beneath the city and surrounding area. Suki followed her out and into a wide meadow, and behind her was Haru closing the exit after them, leaving the ground in the same state it was before they passed through. They quickly discovered that they were not alone here, as there were many small groups of people taking shelter here. Earthbenders among them were making temporary shelters, expecting to remain here for at least one night. Kori and Haru were too tired to do even that, both lying down in the snow covered grass to rest.

Suki crouched next to them, looking down at their faces, upside down to her perspective. "Well, it's great to be out of there. Good to work with earthbenders again."

"Glad to be appreciated," Haru said. He got comfortable despite the cold. "What happened to the other earthbenders you've worked with?"

"The Empire got her," Suki said. She started taking off the stormtrooper armor she had stolen, no longer needing the disguise. "I have no idea what they've done with Toph."

"That's the Avatar's earthbending teacher, right?" Kori asked. "Aang told me a few things about her. Not sure how much is true or what parts are exaggerated."

"She'd say it's impossible to exaggerate her," Suki said, remembering her trip with Toph through the Fire Nation. "I've never met a girl with a bigger ego."

Haru sat up and then faced the two women. "I think we have bigger concerns than a girl I only met once."

"Yeah," Kori admitted. She sat up and looked to west, imagining the city she had left behind once again. "What do you think they'll do about our breakout?"

"I'm sure they will retaliate," Suki answered. She stood up tall, wishing that she could see the city, but glad that they were too far away. "I wouldn't want to be in Yu Dao when they do."

That was a sickening thought, and Kori made herself stand up despite the exhaustion. "We should get further away. I don't want to be anywhere near the city when it happens."

Suki helped Haru get on his feet, and the three of them got moving again. Kori picked a direction and they headed south, where many possible destinations for safety lay beyond the horizon. Others in the meadow decided to follow them, figuring that they had to know what they were doing, and having no reason to remain here. The following grew as they passed by more people, as everyone knew this place would not be safe for long. But they did not get far before the sky darkened, and all eyes looked up at the heavens, seeing their worst fears brought to life.

Thousands of small ships were flying across the sky, eclipsing the sun with their numbers. Those ships were heading in many different directions, flying toward the various imperial bases on Earth. Hundreds were going to Yu Dao, no doubt to reinforce the imperial forces there. And the people on the ground could only imagine the larger ships they had come from, hidden in the space behind the deep blue sky. Some small ships passed directly overhead, and everyone took cover underneath the closest trees, praying that they would not be seen.

When the ships had passed Kori let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. "Well… that's very depressing. I thought we would have more time."

"Apparently not," Suki said. She resumed the walk and quickened her pace, and everyone else did the same. "Keep moving. We need to get out of here."

* * *

While underlings dealt with the situation on the planet, Darth Vader returned to his quarters aboard the _Executor_. There was the usual maintenance he had to deal with, something to do while he had to wait anyway. During that maintenance Vader received reports on the situation, though most of it he could have guessed beforehand. The rebels had inflicted considerable damage, the locals had inflicted further harm, and the efforts to establish a garrison here had been set back months. For the moment Vader focused on the immediate task, and soon enough his suit's systems were back to optimum performance.

Now it was the time to make his own report, and Darth Vader went to the special chamber adjacent to his quarters. He kneeled on the pad, and the hologram of the Emperor appeared. "Master…"

" _Report."_

Vader collected his thoughts and summarized the situation. "The rebels learned of our plans for Earth and attacked our forces there. We will need to rebuild our facilities there. I suspect their intention was to recruit the benders and deny us that advantage."

" _So it seems."_ The Emperor scowled, annoyed but not angered by this news. _"I presume the rebels left before you arrived?"_

"Of course they did," Vader said, making clear his contempt for the rebels. "They knew they could not face us directly. They must have a safe system near the Neutral Zone to retreat to quickly. It should not be difficult to extrapolate their course from here."

" _Continue your pursuit of the rebels."_ The Emperor seemed more disappointed than anything now. _"Surely you can do at least that much."_

Vader didn't like that tone, but he had to deal with it regardless. "I assure you, the rebels will fall."

The Emperor's gaze narrowed, as if to see something inside of Vader. _"There is something else on your mind. Something that you are not telling me."_

Though reluctant, Vader had to answer his master. "On my last visit to Earth, I discovered a place strong with the Force. I believe it is a passage to an otherworldly realm. And there is something on the other side calling to me."

For a moment the Emperor was silent, thinking about what he had heard. It did not last, and the Emperor asked a simple question. _"Are you certain?"_

"I am," Vader answered. "Have you not felt it?"

" _I have not."_ The Emperor seemed disturbed about that, for he usually sensed the same disturbances felt by his apprentice. "Exercise caution in this matter. Do not let yourself be led astray."

The hologram of the Emperor disappeared, and Vader was left alone in the chamber. He stood up and left without delay, heading back into the rest of the ship. He took his time on his way to the bridge, thinking about the advice of his master. Vader reached the bridge and walked through it, looking at the crew going about their business, all trying not to make eye contact with him. He stopped at the sensor station and overlooked the officer working there, saw the latest reports, and then turned towards the communications officer at the next station over.

"Have the probe droids been deployed?" Vader asked.

"Yes," the officer answered. "They are on their way across the planet as we speak."

* * *

Over a thousand droids scattered across the Earth, flying through the upper atmosphere on their way to every civilized place on the planet. After spreading out the droids plunged into the atmosphere, diving toward their respective destinations. From the surface they looked like tiny black dots in the sky, mistaken for fly-gnats at first before they got close enough to recognize their mechanical nature. That was the closest they got to the populace below, remaining high enough to avoid any attacks from angry benders hurling their elements at the sky.

Everyone on the planet with a view of the sky could see the probe droids, hovering up there and drawing attention from the populace, just as they had done many months before. People in the cities could see dozens of them, in smaller towns and villages they saw handfuls of droids, and even in remote the countryside people could one or two droids in the sky. After waiting for the audience to grow to suitable sizes the probe droids activated holographic projectors, creating oversized images of Darth Vader, his visage looking down upon the people of Earth.

The holograms seemed to look at each individual, and Vader addressed them all at once. _"I am very disappointed in all of you._

" _Against my better judgement, you were given a second chance to peacefully join the Empire. Peace and prosperity were there for the taking, so long as you obey our commands. It was in your interests to be obedient and comply with the Empire._

" _Instead you resist us wherever you can. You attack our forces, steal our technology, and help our enemies. You throw away our gifts and assist the rebellion out of spite, working against your own interests that would be served by working with us._

" _This behavior will not be tolerated. An example must be made. Know that when you disobey the Empire, this is what awaits you."_

The Star Destroyers had already spread further apart from each other, and their sensors achieved multiple target lock across the globe. Torpedoes fired from dozens of ventral ports, all aimed for the planet surface below. Hundreds of torpedoes shot towards the surface, most heading for the cities, some going to the smaller towns, and a few dropping on random parts of the countryside. From the surface they looked like bright blue orbs coming out of the sky, falling down to Earth all around the populace, detonating on impact with the ground.

Massive explosions destroyed vast swaths of urban terrain, utterly annihilating everything with the blast radius. In the cities dozens of city blocks were annihilated together, and the neighboring blocks were heavily damaged by powerful shockwaves. Hundreds died from each explosion in the largest cities, and the smallest towns were wiped out entirely. Tens of thousands were killed worldwide instantly, twice as many died from injuries immediately after, and millions were wounded in one form or another, and everyone witnessed the wrath of the Empire.

The probe droids remained in place during the barrage, finished in a few minutes, and the holograms of Darth Vader continued to look at what was left of the populace. _"Remember, when you disobey the Empire, your people will die."_

The holograms disappeared, the probe droids flew back into space, and the people were left to their suffering.

* * *

Zuko thought he had seen the horrors of war.

Now he understood just how little he had seen.

Though his group of firebenders had made it out of the capital, they had only reached the caldera rim when the probe droids arrived and the subsequent orbital bombardment. They were standing on the southeastern part of the rim, and the northeastern part had been destroyed, connecting that side of the capital to the volcano slope outside. At first Zuko had thought he was lucky to not be on that part of the caldera rim at the time, but then remembered that he was never lucky. That was proven when he looked at the capital, and gut sank further than ever before.

The capital had been bombed nearly into oblivion, only a handful of buildings left standing. Large swaths of land had been reduced to rubble, and in some places the underground tunnels were exposed for all to see. Although the damaged palace had been left alone, everything around it had been destroyed. Zuko's horror intensified when he saw the Fire Sage temple, or rather the smoldering crater where it used to be. He could only imagine the sheer number of deaths in the last few minutes, enough to cripple the capital for decades to come.

Zuko dropped to his knees, unable to look away from the ruins of the capital. "Agni… there's nothing left."

Everyone else in the group was just as horrified, most seeing their homes destroyed beyond recognition. One firebender crouched next to Zuko, looking into Zuko's good eye. "What do we do now?"

"I don't know," Zuko admitted. He closed his eyes and shook his head, the pain of failure too great even for him. "I honestly do not know."

For the moment, all they could do was grieve for their fallen capital. Everyone remembered those they had lost, praying for their souls to find rest with the sun spirit Agni. But the mourning was interrupted by the arrival of imperial transports, heading into the caldera to land outside the damaged palace. Their presence was adding insult to injury, at least to the firebenders watching them land in the remains of the capital. But there was nothing they could do about it, having only their small group against a new occupation force, nowhere near enough to fight the imperials returning in full force.

"Let's go," Zuko said. He stood up and turned away from the ruins, and everyone else followed him. "There's nothing left for us here."

* * *

A similar sight greeted Suki and her group, making a depressing arrival at Omashu.

The city was unrecognizable, even for those that one lived here. Only the mountain itself remained familiar, and even then the mountain had been damaged. The mountain peak in particular was sitting at the bottom of the valley, along with all the debris dragged down along the way. A long gash ran down the mountain slope, with many half destroyed buildings along the sides, and deep enough that even the foundations of destroyed buildings were stripped away. They could only imagine the forces involved to topple a mountaintop, and were silently grateful that they hadn't been here when it happened.

In addition there numerous craters throughout the city, the rubble scattered down the slope. Some of those craters overlapped each other, particularly on the southern side of the mountain. The destruction left the remaining buildings heavily damaged, many on the verge of collapse at any moment. They got to see one building do just that, fall apart and slide down the slope until the remains hit a crater and stopped. All together the damage left Omashu a shadow of its former self, and those that remained here were salvaging what they could before abandoning the city.

Suki sighed and crouched on the ridge at the edge of the valley, staring at the mountain city before her. "Spirits… could there be anyone still alive?"

Sitting next to her, Kori saw the main bridge to Omashu in pieces. "Maybe if they got inside the mountain? Still, it does not look good."

"No, it doesn't," Haru agreed, standing behind them. He gestured to the people that had followed from Yu Dao's wilderness, still needing a place to stay. "What are we going to do now? I don't see everyone making it to the next city."

"We'll have to make do here," Kori admitted. "Earthbend some shelter, ration everything we have for the night, and we'll try to get across in the morning."

It was getting late in the evening, and no one was in the mood to travel during the night. So they set up shelter wherever they could, often needing to earthbend it out of the ground, and did what they could to rest after a long day's travel. Dozens of stone tents were pitched across the land, often with several people inside, trying to take what little comfort they could get with each other after so much suffering. The sun soon set on the lands around Omashu, and most of the people were so weary that they fell asleep right away.

But Suki could not bring herself to sleep, no matter how much she tried. She was constantly thinking about the lives lost worldwide, and that there was nothing they could have done to stop it. And there was nothing anyone could do prevent it from happening again, should the Empire decide to inflict more suffering on the world. It consumed her thoughts and kept her away from sleep, worse than any nightmare she had ever had before. Some small part of didn't want to sleep, fearing that new nightmares would be worse than anything she could imagine.

As if to make things worse, in the middle of the night there was a tremble in the ground. Suki was up in an instant, outside a moment later, and saw the ground split apart. "What the…"

A small stone platform rose up from the underground, carrying a dozen people moving via earthbending, including a king now without a city. "Hello there neighbor."

"You must be Bumi," Suki said. She pointed towards the gash in the mountain, barely visible in the starlight. "I figure that part was your doing?"

"Guilty as charged," Bumi admitted. "What brings you out here?"

By now the noise and tremors had woken up other people, and Haru had come out to see what was going on. "I take it your mission went as well as ours."

"It went great until the counterattack," Bumi said. "Apparently a ruler of the earth can be brought down by the sky. Who knew?"

"Still, it's good you made it out," Haru said. "How many of your people are left?"

"A few dozen fighters, about five hundred civilians," Bumi said. "What about you?"

"Just what you see here," Suki said, waving a hand at all the shelters pulled out of the earth. "We were hoping to find help here when we saw your city like this."

"Well we can help each other," Bumi said. "We'll make it through this, I'm sure."

* * *

Grand Admiral Thrawn was not pleased.

He did not approve of Darth Vader's approach to the problem with the locals, his personal preference being to avoid senseless waste of life and ammunition. Granted, he had done similar things on other worlds before, but usually to achieve some strategic goal that required clearing out vast swaths of land in a hurry. In this case Thrawn did not see any point in the destruction, seemingly arbitrary and for its own sake, since it did not serve any goal other than pure spite. But there was nothing he could do about it now, save for trying to salvage something out of this.

Not bothering to waste time going to the bridge for this, Thrawn was giving orders from his quarters through the comm. "Admiral, instruct the engineers to abandon the old facilities and rebuild away from local population centers. I want to minimize the risk of attack from the locals."

" _Understood,"_ Admiral Ozzel replied. _"I have several suitable locations in mind, all several hundred kilometers from the nearest settlements."_

"Send me a list for review," Thrawn ordered.

" _Sending it now,"_ Admiral Ozzel reported.

The list appeared on Thrawn's computer terminal, and he gave it a quick first glance. "Excellent. Monitor these sites and check for any underground surprises. And survey more locations for development later."

" _Will do,"_ Admiral Ozzel said.

"That will be all," Thrawn said. "Keep me apprised of all new developments."

Thrawn ended the transmission, and when no one could hear him he let out a long sigh. It was going to be a long time getting this world under control again, that much was obvious at the moment to everyone involved. It wasn't being helped by Darth Vader's presence on the _Executor_ , terrifying their own people as well as the locals, which was not going to be helpful. Although he was the Emperor's right hand man, and a very effective enforcer of the Emperor's will, Vader was often an impediment to military operations, and often at odds with Thrawn's preferred methods.

Also preferring to know where potential problems could be, Thrawn inquired about where Vader was at the moment. He sent messages back and forth with the crewmen that kept track of everyone, most hesitant to report on Vader's movements, but did comply with Thrawn's request. By the end of it all there was a surprise for him, and another potential mess for him to deal with. Vader was not on the ship, or any of the other ships in Death Squadron, and so Thrawn opened a transmission to outside the Executor.

"Why did you leave the ship?" Thrawn demanded. "Where are you going?"

" _It is none of your concern."_

The transmission was cut from the other end, and Thrawn scowled at the rude gesture from Vader. So he contacted the bridge again. "Admiral, have someone track Vader's ship. I want to know where he is going."

* * *

Without telling anyone else what he was doing, Darth Vader flew his TIE Fighter toward Earth again. This time he flew towards the southern hemisphere, currently in the middle of local summer, the opposite of the last place he had visited on this world. The Force guided his path through the atmosphere, leading him to his destination somewhere on the planet. But he didn't need the Force to guess where it was, having a good idea where he would find what he was looking for. He had already been to the top of this world, and it only seemed fitting that he would visit the bottom of it.

The vast ice cap covering the pole glittered in the midnight sun, like a halo of light floating on the sea. The middle of that halo was obscured by a massive storm, the kind one would expect to find on a gas giant instead of a terrestrial planet, a strange phenomenon from a scientific perspective. This storm had a strange sensation through the Force, like it was a living thing with a mind and soul of its own, and an agenda to match. Darth Vader slowed his TIE Fighter during the approach, taking in the view for a little while longer, before plunging into the swirling clouds.

Visibility dropped to nothing immediately, and the TIE Fighter's headlights barely pierced the thick clouds ahead. Vader had to fly by the Force alone, and his faith in its guidance never wavered. The TIE Fighter slowed enough for a landing, just in time for Vader to see a forest appear before him. He spotted a suitable landing site outside the forest, complete with an imprint in the snow from another ship, and he landed the TIE Fighter in that spot. After landing Vader got out of his ship, setting foot on the snow and walking into the forest.

"Interesting," Vader muttered, walking down a path and observing the surroundings. "It is just like the one in the north."

Using his lightsaber as a light source, Vader walked down the path cast in the deep red glow. He sensed the presence of strange supernatural beings, most in a form resembling snakes made of shadows, numbering in the hundreds. They kept to the trees and stared at Vader passing them by, keeping their distance as he walked deeper into the forest. These spirits were different from the ones in the north, for they gave off a strong sense of animosity and aggression. Vader stopped walking, stared at the spirits, and waited for them to act first.

They came from behind, lunging toward Vader's back, only for his lightsaber to swing into them. The first spirits were cleaved in half, the severed ends burning with ethereal red fire, which quickly consumed them entirely. Vader swung his lightsaber round and round as more spirits attacked, slicing through each and every one that got close. In seconds he was surrounded by the red flames, surrounded by the disintegrating remains of spirits. The spirits stopped their attack, keeping their distance from the lightsaber.

"Is that all?" Vader asked, staring at the spirits that remained. "I expected better."

Vader continued on his way through the forest, keeping a watchful eye on the spirits keeping their distance, and soon reached the center. He saw blue light coming from the bottom of a freshly carved pit in a layer of ice, and from the edge of the pit Vader saw a bright blue sphere. It was at the center of everything here, the source of power behind the storm, where the strange feeling in the Force was at its strongest. And it was a match for the sphere in the north, like twins with an entire planet separating them from one another.

"As I thought," Vader muttered. Now that he knew there was a second strange sphere on this planet, there was only one thing left to wonder. "They are linked. But what will it take to open them?"


	28. Connected, Everything Is

Chapter 28: Connected, Everything Is

Luke was awoken by a navigation alert.

During the long trip through hyperspace he had fallen asleep, having let the X-Wing fly on autopilot for the boring part of the journey. The alert had him awake immediately, and he quickly turned off the noise. He checked the navigation computer to be certain, and the X-Wing was approaching their destination. Then he heard Aang snoring in the backseat, having slept right through the alert. Luke knocked on the side of the cockpit a few times, until Aang finally woke up and remembered where he was right now.

"Are we there yet?" Aang asked.

"Almost," Luke said. "We're coming out of hyperspace… now."

The blue void changed into the white streaks that in turn changed into stars, and the X-Wing returned to the black void of normal space. One star was there to greet them, floating in the void without any stellar companions for parsecs around. There were a handful of planets around this star, most on the far side of their orbits, only one terrestrial planet nearby. From afar it looked like a dark green dot, steadily growing bigger as the X-Wing approached. That planet had a single small moon, hardly notable in any way.

"There it is," Luke said. "That's the Dagobah system."

Looking over Luke's shoulder for a better view, Aang saw the planet and wondered what it would be like. He had some trouble believing his eyes. "Makes you think, when an entire world looks that small."

"You get used to it," Luke said. Soon the planet filled the view, and he searched for a suitable place to land. "R2, are you picking up any clearings down there. The whole planet seems like a giant swamp."

A long series of beeps came from the droid, telling Luke what the X-Wing's sensors picked up.

"Figures," Luke grumbled. He flew the ship toward the equator, slowing down as much as he could before entering the planet's gravity well. "Well we'll just have to come in and see things up close."

"I hope you know what you're doing," Aang said. "Cause I sure don't have a clue."

In a few moments the X-Wing hit atmosphere, beginning its descent toward the planet's surface. But then the ship's sensors went dead, strong turbulence shook the ship, and Luke scrambled to keep the ship under control. Aang simply held on to his seat and tried to stay quiet, trusting in Luke and trying to avoid being a distraction. But despite Luke's best efforts the ship would not return to his chosen course, as if the ship had gained a mind of its own and wanted to go somewhere else. He couldn't even tell where that was, given the clouds they were passing through right now.

"Hold onto something," Luke ordered. "This is going to be rough."

"Already doing that," Aang said.

Beneath the clouds came the treetops, a massive canopy that stretched to the horizon in every direction. The X-Wing crashed into the canopy and tore through the treetops, branches snapping off on contact, leaving a long gash in the foliage. Underneath the canopy the X-Wing narrowly avoided dozens of tree trunks, tore apart hundreds of hanging vines, and crashed into the swamp. An explosion of water erupted on impact, drenching the X-Wing in the sheer volume, and the ship came to a sudden and abrupt stop in a bog.

Somehow the X-Wing remained in one piece, though with small stress fractures in the wings and covered in muck. After taking a moment to breathe, Luke finally let go of the controls. "Well that could have been better. Hey are you alright back there?"

"I've been better," Aang said, feeling several bruises in odd places. "So what happened up there? Why did we crash like that?"

"Lost control somehow," Luke answered. He checked the sensor logs to find out what went wrong, but there was nothing to provide an answer. "R2, did you pick up anything I missed?"

A single beep signaled the droid's confusion.

"Figures," Luke grumbled. He pressed the button to open the cockpit, letting in the moist swampy air. "Well we're here, we should look around."

Luke climbed out of the ship and stood on the front of it, most of it submerged in the bog. The ship was tilted nose down, engines sticking up in the air, and it looked like he could get it out with enough thrust in reverse. Aang leapt out on a gust of wind, landed on the starboard wing, and felt great to have his airbending back. R2-D2 was being lifted out of the ship by a small rising platform, and in a moment it was free to move around. Suddenly the ship tilted to the right a little, R2-D2 slid down the incline, and fell into the bog.

"R2!" Luke yelled, seeing the droid disappear in the murky water.

"I got it," Aang said. He moved his arms around in gentle motions, and a whirlpool formed and spread apart. "Huh…"

"What is it?" Luke asked.

"My waterbending isn't like it should be," Aang answered. His whirlpool was getting bigger, but Aang was struggling to pull it off. "It's twice as hard to do this."

"Must be the Dagobah's moon," Luke figured. He couldn't see it through the treetops, but remembered it from the trip here. "It is smaller than Earth's."

Aang continued his waterbending, and the whirlpool reached the bottom of the bog. R2-D2 was exposed to the air, though it remained covered in muck. Now that he knew where the droid was, Aang stomped his foot to earthbend, and a pillar of rock topped with mud rose upward to carry R2-D2 to the surface of the bog. Aang let the water flow back into the bog proper, and when the waves settled he bent some water into a bridge of ice. R2-D2 quickly rolled across the ice bridge, and once the droid was on mostly solid ground Aang let the ice melt away.

"That makes three elements working, to some extent," Aang said. He held out a hand and stretched out his fingers, and a flame appeared in his palm. "Make that four."

"Right, that's a thing you do," Luke said. He jumped across the water to the shore, in which his boots sank up to his ankles in muck. "Come on, let's set up camp here. Then we can go looking for Yoda."

Aang took his staff out of the ship before leaping across, and he hardened the muck with earthbending to avoid getting his shoes stuck in it. "Okay, let's get to it."

It took some time to set up a campsite in this swamp, despite their best efforts to do it right. The work was slowed by the need to retrieve their things from a half sunken ship, needing to take care not to make it sink even further in the bog. The work was quickened by Aang's bending, using a mix of earth and waterbending to dry and harden the soft ground, making it easier to move around without slipping in the muck. R2-D2 wasn't much help, lacking proper arms for lifting and moving things, so it just stood there and watched.

Once the camp was set up they got a campfire going, and Luke had brought out trays of food for both of them. "I appreciate you coming along."

"Thanks," Aang said. After taking a bite he looked around, taking in the sight and sound of the swamp. It all seemed very familiar. "Hey, have you ever gotten the feeling that you've done this before?"

"You mean déjà vu?" Luke asked. He shook his head. "Not for anything like this? Are you?"

"Strangely, yes," Aang admitted. "Imagine, flying through the air minding your own business, when a freak storm pulls you into a swamp, and you have no idea where you've ended up. Next thing you know we'll be seeing strange visions, and eventually we will bump into the guy with all the answers we need."

Luke had taken a bit and was chewing while thinking about the matter. "I take it this happened to you?"

"Nearly two years ago," Aang said. "Just saying, this seems awfully familiar."

Still thinking about Aang's sense of déjà vu, Luke swallowed his food and reached for something. "Now that you mention it, there is this weird feeling here. It feels like-"

"Like what?"

Both Aang and Luke turned toward that voice, but Luke had grabbed his blaster and aimed in that direction. "Like we're being watched."

A very short green man was sitting on a tree root, holding up his stubby arms in a cowardly gesture. "Away with your weapon, I mean you no harm."

"Called it," Aang said, standing up while Luke slightly lowered his blaster. "Well almost, I wasn't expecting the green skin and pointy ears. Or are we having the visions already?"

"Why are you here?" the green man asked.

"We're looking for someone," Luke answered.

"Looking, found someone you have," the green man said.

"Oh yeah, strange way of talking," Aang said. "I forgot about that bit."

Luke turned his head toward Aang. "Still getting déjà vu?"

Aang nodded. "I think this might be the guy we're looking for."

The green man grinned, and with a cane in hand he walked off the tree root. "Again, found someone you have."

"Yeah, but I'm not sure you're the one we want," Luke said. He turned back to Aang again. "This guy doesn't look like a Jedi master to me."

"Jedi master," the green man repeated, his long ears somehow pointing upward. "You seek Yoda."

"And if I had to guess, you are Yoda," Aang said.

By now the green man had walked into the camp, facing Aang and smiling at him. "Certain of that, you are. May I ask why you think so?"

Aang shrugged. "A hunch, intuition, experience, take your pick, or not. Honestly, I don't think it's a coincidence we met you here, the only person in the middle of nowhere, so soon after we crashed."

The green man laughed. "Wise beyond your years, you are."

Luke crouched next to him, noticing something in the wrinkled green face. "So you are Yoda?"

"I am," Yoda answered. "Why are you looking for me?"

"Ben told me to," Luke answered. "He said you were this great Jedi master, able to teach the ways of the Force."

"And spiritual things," Aang added. "That's why I'm here."

Yoda closed his eyes, appeared to be listening to something, and then looked at both Luke and Aang. "I will think about it. But for now, we must eat."

"We are eating," Aang said, holding up one of the food trays.

"Ha," Yoda laughed, dismissing it out of hand. "Eat better food, real food. Come, my place not far from here. Have nice hot meal there."

Having little reason to argue with him, Luke and Aang put their food trays away and followed Yoda. Aang left a trail by earthbending rocks out of the ground, making a dotted line to follow back to the camp. Yoda led them down a path to a small hut nestled in some trees, though to someone of Yoda's size it looked like a comfortable home. Both Luke and Aang had to crouch to get through the front door, and once inside Luke was almost down to his knees while Aang got by with bending his back a little, for once glad he was shorter than most people.

Yoda's home had a fireplace inside, along with a small cooking pot already prepared. There was a gumbo of some sort simmering inside, with a strong aroma that filled the hut. Aang didn't want to know what was in there, certain that the ingredients were collected from various parts of the swamp. Luke sampled the gumbo and liked the taste, seeing why Yoda wanted to eat here. It quickly became obvious that Yoda had been expecting company, somehow knowing a ship would crash in the swamp next to his home.

When all three were holding small bowls of gumbo, Aang was sitting on the floor and looking down at the food. "I've been wondering. The crash in the swamp, did you have something to do with that?"

Yoda chuckled at that. "Perhaps, to some extent. The Force is everywhere, and guides us all. It has a way of ensuring we are all where we need to be when we need to be there."

"Yeah, pretty sure it was all you," Aang said. He took a small bite, forced himself to swallow what he though was a piece of meat, and put the bowl down. "This Force thing must be very powerful."

"It is, in more ways than anyone can comprehend," Yoda described. He ate some of his meal, watched Luke and Aang wait for him, and continued after swallowing. "There is so little you know, so much to learn, if you are truly committed."

"I am committed," Luke said. "Why can't you start teaching me now?"

Yoda grunted and faced Aang in particular. "Are you not committed, like your friend here?"

"I'm not here to learn about the Force," Aang said. He noticed a twinge of surprise in Yoda. "I just need help dealing with spirits. They refuse to listen to me and they abducted my friend. I'm told that you could help me with that."

"Spirits…" Yoda muttered, thinking about that for a bit. "It has been centuries since I've heard about them. A fickle bunch they are, prideful and arrogant in everything they do, often refusing requests for no other reason than to aggravate the asker."

"Sounds about right," Aang said. He folded his hands and leaned forward. "Can you help?"

"We will see," Yoda said. He saw Aang nod in understanding, and then he turned back toward Luke. "Now, why do you wish to become a Jedi?"

Luke only needed a moment to think about that. "Well mostly because of my father I guess."

"Ah…" Yoda muttered. "Powerful Jedi was he."

"Come on, how could you know my father?" Luke asked. "You don't even know who I am."

"Similar in the Force, you and your father are," Yoda answered. "Much anger in him as well, and just as he was not ready, neither are you."

"I wasn't ready either," Aang interrupted. He made a flame appear in his palm, remembering his experience with learning firebending. "If I had waited until I was ready, my world would have burned to the ground. Everything good in it would be gone, and all our sacrifices would have been for nothing."

"This is different," Yoda said.

"Not from where I'm sitting," Aang argued. He extinguished his flame and put his hand on the floor. "From what I understand, Luke needs to learn this. The longer we wait the more people suffer under the Empire."

"You both have no patience," Yoda said.

" _He will learn patience."_

All three of them heard the disembodied voice of Kenobi, and Luke looked for him but did not see him anywhere. "Ben, tell him I'm ready."

"You are reckless," Yoda said.

" _So was I, if you remember."_

"He is too old," Yoda argued.

"I was too young," Aang countered. "The monks were supposed to tell me at sixteen. I was twelve."

Yoda sighed, thought about it for a moment, and looked up to where he sensed the presence of Kenobi. "Will he finish what he begins?"

"I won't fail you," Luke promised. "I'm not afraid.

Yoda knew better and looked him in the eye. "You will be."

The matter settled, it was time to begin the training. The meal was quickly finished, and everyone went outside the hut. The first step was physical training, meant to condition the body to better channel the Force, and the swamp was a suitable place for that. Yoda was small enough to cling to Luke's back, and he pointed the way through a path through the swamp, full of obstacles to overcome and test the body's limits. During the physical lesson Yoda also described the Force, how it was used by Jedi, and what pitfalls lay along the path.

Meanwhile Aang was left to his own devices, having no reason to take part in the Force lessons. He was content to wait his turn with Yoda, certain that Luke would have to take a break sooner or later. Aang stayed near Yoda's hut at first, with R2-D2 rolling around nearby, also having nothing to do while Luke was busy. Aang was sitting on a flat rock and trying to meditate, though it wasn't easy to block out the sounds and smells of the swamp. Eventually he gave up and stood up, and he looked around for something else to do.

Aang stopped next to R2-D2, and wasn't sure where to make eye contact with the droid's dome shaped head. "Hey, do you any good ways to pass the time?"

R2-D2 beeped in varying pitches and tones, his head swiveling back and forth, the little red light on it stopping on Aang's face.

"Huh…" Aang muttered, utterly bemused by what he heard. "Yeah, I have no idea what you said there."

More beeps followed, and R2-D2 rolled away from Aang.

"That's fair," Aang admitted. He walked in the other direction, looking around for anything interesting, until he came across something that didn't quite feel right. "What's this?"

Not far from the hut was a simple hole in the ground, a modest entrance to a much larger cave beneath the trees of the swamp. While it appeared rather mundane, it did not seem that way to Aang, for simply looking at it sent a shiver down his spine. There was only one other place that gave him this bad feeling, and so Aang prepared himself in the same manner. He calmed himself and made his face as stoic as he could, and then gently climbed down through the hole. The cave he entered was filled with tree roots hanging from the ceiling and clinging to the walls, but not much else at first glance.

Still, Aang got the feeling something was in here with him. It was strangely quiet inside the cave, only the cries of various reptiles breaking the silence. The air was thick and musky down here, saturated with moisture that filled Aang's lungs. His movements slowed with each step, almost as if time itself could not keep up. Then he heard steps from deeper in the cave, around a corner that he could not see past. Aang braced himself for whoever was back there, wondering who might be here, and what he might want.

When Aang saw him come around the corner, he stared at what he saw. "And here comes the visions."

That was the only explanation Aang could accept, given that what he saw was himself. However, the tattoos were red instead of blue, and the blank face lacked any sign of humanity in it. Aang got into an airbending stance, expecting the doppelganger to strike, only to see him prepare to earthbend. For a moment they simply stared at each other, and Aang saw something dark deep in those grey eyes. Aang thrust his hands to throw the wind, the doppelganger stomped a foot to raise a wall of rock, and the elements collided in the middle.

Aang switched to earthbending and made the wall shatter, only for the doppelganger to throw the wind at him. A quick jump got Aang out of the way, and he clung to a wall by hanging onto a tree root. From there Aang kicked more wind at his foe, which was blocked by a new rock wall, and Aang swung from one tree root to another to get over the wall and drop down the other side. The doppelganger was still turning around when Aang struck, the wind hitting him and knocking him back into the rock wall, which collapsed into a pile of rubble.

Aang's eyes and tattoos glowed bright blue in the Avatar State, and he used its power to summon wind that filled the cave. It blew away the pile of rubble and the doppelganger along with it, the wind carrying them towards the cave's entrance. But then the doppelganger's eyes and tattoos glowed bright red, and the ground moved up to block the wind. Large chunks of rock were hurled toward Aang, and he shattered them with earthbending, only for the rock to be followed by wind that knocked him back and toward the deep end of the cave.

That was when Aang noticed the pattern, the doppelganger responding to his elements with the opposite. He switched to the one element he preferred not to use, knowing that it would beat its opposite here. Aang punched to conjure a plume of flame, filling the cave with fire from time to bottom, and sent the flames toward his foe. The doppelganger bent water out from the cave's moist walls, creating a liquid shield in front of him, but it was only half a foot thick. Flames and water met, the water quickly boiled and evaporated, and the flames overwhelmed the doppelganger.

Aang extinguished the flames before tree roots could ignite, and then let the Avatar State's power leave him. The glow in his eyes and tattoos disappeared, and he surveyed the damage he had done. The doppelganger had been burned alive, the charred remains being a horrible sight for Aang to behold. But then the entire body turned red and purple, filling up the cave with dark light, and the physical remains disintegrated into ethereal mist. A new shape emerged from the dark light, filling up the cave from top to bottom, with a large red eye fixed in the middle.

A deep voice boomed from the dark light, saying only a single word. **"Soon…"**

In an instant the dark light vanished, and Aang was left alone in an empty cave. The strange feeling of slowed time had left with it, leaving Aang with the feeling that the vision was over. So he walked back to the entrance of the cave, leapt through the hole on a gust of wind, and landed back in the swamp outside. Aang stopped and took a moment to think on what he saw, wondering what the point of that vision was. Unsure of what to think, he walked away from the cave in silence, making his way back to Yoda's hut.

There he found Luke standing by a tree and Yoda sitting on a log, and judging by Luke's sweat Aang figured they had just finished a lesson. "Hey…"

"Where did you go?" Luke asked.

Aang sighed and rested one hand against a tree. "There's this weird cave back there. It showed me a vision, though I don't know what to make of it."

Yoda clearly knew about it, looking away from the others and poking his cane into the dirt. "That place is strong with the dark side of the Force. A domain of evil it is." He looked at Luke. "In you must go."

"What's in there?" Luke asked.

"Only what you take with you," Yoda answered.

Luke walked away to go to the cave, and Aang did not even try to stop him. Aang simply watched him leave, letting him go to face whatever vision awaited him. Once Luke was out of sight Aang sat down on another log facing Yoda, so tired that he wished he had a place to sleep right now. Yoda sensed his weariness and did not question him on the matter, knowing that the vision Aang had was his and his alone. For a little while they simply sat there in silence, occasionally looking at each other, until Yoda spoke up.

"Difficult it is, to reason with the unreasonable," Yoda said. He looked Aang in the eye, and saw that he had his full attention. "To get them to do what you ask is to not ask them at all."

"I'm not sure I follow," Aang admitted.

"In all my eight hundred years, on a handful of worlds, have I encountered spirits," Yoda described, thinking of days long before the fall of the Jedi Order. "Every time, when they have their minds made up, they did not change. Trying to persuade them otherwise will only strengthen their resolve."

"Yeah, I get that," Aang said. "So how do you get spirits to do what you want?"

"Seem like it is their choice, you must make them believe," Yoda said. "Do not persuade, do not reason, simply believe. Only then, will they act of their own accord."

"So in other words, pretend I don't need them," Aang surmised. "Somehow, that seems like an excuse for them to ignore me altogether. I mean, all the times I never even thought of spirits, they never bothered to show up."

"Easy, it is not. Convenient, it is not," Yoda said. "If it were, spirits would be everywhere."

Aang sighed and looked down at his feet. "There's got to be more to it than that."

"There are, but not for the likes of us," Yoda admitted. "Dark methods, using negative emotions, can sway the very essence of spirits. And even then, in their corrupted forms, they serve the forces of evil. No good can come from using spirits like that."

A distant memory came to mind, when the forest spirit Hei Bai had attacked a village. Aang remembered the dark form Hei Bai had taken at the time, violently lashing out at everything and everyone around him. At the time Aang had assumed the dark form had been Hei Bai's natural state, until it had reverted to the smaller panda-like appearance. Reminding the spirit that life would renew and continue had prompted that reversion, and it had left without saying a word. Yet while Hei Bai's rampage had been stopped, it had never lifted a paw to help in the physical world.

"If dark emotions turn them bad, will light emotions make them good?" Aang asked.

"Passive, at best," Yoda answered. "Disappointing, I know. Unfair it is, but the way of things it is too."

"That's what I hear," Aang muttered.

By then they heard footsteps approaching, and both of them turned to see Luke returning from the cave. The look on his face told of the vision he had, one that had disturbed him to his core. No one asked Luke what his vision was, respecting his privacy just as he had respected Aang's. Yoda recognized the need to give Luke time to process his vision, to understand the meaning of what he saw. So for a while they rested in silence, thinking about what they had gone through today, until they were interrupted by the one thing that didn't learn any lessons at all.

R2-D2 had rolled towards them, beeping loud and often.

"What is it?" Luke asked.

More frantic beeps followed, and R2-D2 rolled back the way he came in a hurry.

Everyone followed the droid at their own pace, and so Luke was the first to see what had R2-D2 so upset. "Oh no… we'll never get it out now."

Back at the place where they had crashed, Aang saw the X-Wing nearly completely submerged in the bog. "Crap. That is a big problem."

"So certain are you?" Yoda asked, seeing their predicament.

"Wait, hang on," Aang said, thinking of a way to fix this. "I've got it covered."

With subtle motions Aang commanded the ground beneath the bog, raising a portion of it to lift the X-Wing with it. The muck at the bottom gave way under the weight, and Aang needed to be careful to keep the ship from slipping to one side or another. Slowly but surely the X-Wing rose up and out of the bog, covered in all sorts of organic gunk from the water. When the ship was fully out of the water Aang solidified the ground, creating a new and permanent island in the middle of the bog, the X-Wing sitting on top of it with water dripping off everywhere.

"Thanks," Luke said. He watched Aang raise a muck-covered bridge to the X-Wing, appreciating his wide variety of talents. "It's still going to take a while to clean all that gunk off. Or can you bend it all off?"

"Never got the hang of bending plants," Aang admitted, eyeing all the vines and leaves and other soaked foliage covering the X-Wing. "Something to do with bending the water inside, and that's weaker here."

"Guess we'll need to clean it by hand," Luke figured.

"Use the Force," Yoda instructed. "See the ship, clean and pristine, and make it so."

Remembering the lesson from earlier today, Luke understood what Yoda meant. "Okay, I'll try."

"No," Yoda interrupted. "Do, or do not. There is no try."

Luke closed his eyes and held one hand forward, concentrating on his connection to the Force. He imagined the ship cleaning itself, just as Yoda instructed, and willed it to happen. Aang saw nothing happen at first, wondered what he should be expecting, until he felt a change in the wind. There was a slight breeze in their direction, and he saw some of the vines lift upward and stop dripping water. Yet they did not pull away from the ship, and after a short moment they fell back down and returned to the way they were before.

Exhausted from the mental effort, Luke sat down next to Yoda. "I can't… it's too much."

Yoda sighed, and he got to work. He closed his eyes and held a hand forward, blocking out everything except for the task at hand. This time the wind was stronger, and all the vines and other soaked plants lifted up immediately. Aang and Luke were staring at the X-Wing now, and their eyes widened when they saw the plants and muck come free from the ship all at once. In several hundred pieces the vegetation, water, and muck floated around the X-Wing, a maelstrom of matter around a ship restored to pristine condition.

For good measure Yoda made the X-Wing rise into the air, muck detach from the landing struts, and had the ship move towards him. Luke could only gawk at the sight, having believed that something like this was impossible. Aang wanted to believe that this was some form of bending he didn't know about, but knew it was something greater than that. Yoda guided the ship to a patch of dry ground and set it down there, where Luke could confirm this was real by putting his hand on the hull. When he was finished Yoda opened his eyes and saw Luke's amazement, this lesson sinking in.

"I don't… I don't believe it…" Luke muttered.

Yoda nodded. "That is why you fail."

Luke sighed and stood next to Yoda, looking back and forth between him and the X-Wing. "It seems I still have a lot to learn."

"More than you can imagine," Yoda said.

"Well we have the time," Aang pointed out. "Right? We're not in a hurry or anything?"

"I think Leia can get by without us for a while," Luke said. "If she can't, I'm sure she will let us know."

 _A/N: On that note, it's time for another time skip, and another hiatus along with it. Hopefully it won't be as long as the last one._


	29. Winter Wonderland

Chapter 29: Winter Wonderland

Nine months had passed since the Great Exodus, and the Earth was dearly missed by everyone that left their homes behind. Over nine thousand people had been taken off world, the most the rebels could have taken at the time. The vast majority had been brought to planets on the frontier, worlds barely settled by the galactic community, beneath the notice of the Empire. Mingling with colonists already on those worlds, the people of Earth could hide in plain sight. As long as they didn't make a scene large enough to draw attention from the Empire, they could live out their lives in peace.

Once the civilians were placed and safe to leave alone, the benders were brought into the fold. Sent to worlds where their abilities would be enhanced, benders became considerable assets for the rebellion. But they were still relatively few and far between, and so were deployed only on missions where their bending would be essential. Nonbenders were enlisted on a volunteer basis, mostly in support roles for the benders, or otherwise trained to help the rebels in some fashion. Extensive training was required of course, given the circumstance, but it was worthwhile to the rebel cause.

It was easier to train the younger people naturally, having a greater aptitude for learning new things than their elders. Using various technologies came easy to them, though making that technology was far beyond them. A few showed promise in flying small spaceships, if the simulator results were anything to go by. It would still be a while before any of them were flying actual ships, and even then they would be limited to disposable fighter crafts. The people learning those skills didn't mind the limitation, all of them certain that manning a capital ship would be far beyond their ability.

The best and brightest were trained at Echo Base on Hoth, much to their chagrin about living in the freezing cold of a snowball planet. Fortunately they were not required to go outside the base often, only for training purposes in case of emergency abandonment of the base. Otherwise they got to stay in the relatively warm interior of the base, though even there they needed to wear thick clothing to handle the cold. But while it was still discomforting to those from the Earth Kingdom, the few from the Water Tribe didn't mind it at all.

Of all the people brought from Earth, Katara was faring the best of the bunch. The head start she had was paying dividends, learning far faster than her peers. Most of the tools in the base were familiar to her by now, even if she didn't fully understand exactly how they functioned. The spaceship simulator was one of her favorite things to do, having the thrill of the real thing without having to worry about the consequences of failure. She knew she wasn't ready to fly an actual ship yet, but the thought of it was something she dreamed about every night.

Today Katara was walking down a cold corridor, heading for the mess hall when she heard someone on the intercom. _"Katara, report to Leia's office immediately."_

"Ugh…" Katara grumbled, certain she was going to miss her lunch. "What does she want this time?"

Katara turned around and walked back the way she came, grumbling under her breath about the inconvenience. Leia's office was on that end of the base, kept amidst all the other administrative functions the rebels employed here. Katara saw plenty of familiar faces along the way, said hi and waved to most of them, and continued on her way. She knew these corridors by heart, having made most them herself with waterbending. She soon reached a room at the end of one particular corridor, opened the door, and went inside the office.

The office was sparsely decorated, kept to a utilitarian layout for official business. Just enough equipment for Leia to do her work, everything else of hers was kept in her quarters. Katara saw Leia inside sitting behind a desk, which had a computer monitor and data pads on top of it. Leia looked up when she heard Katara enter, appreciating her quick arrival. She gestured for Katara to sit down across from her, and she sat in the chair and faced Leia. Leia folded her hands and rested her elbows on the desk, eyes looking into Katara's.

"Glad you could come so quickly," Leia said.

"Are you sending me to another planet again?" Katara asked.

"No," Leia answered. She picked up a data pad, holding above the desk. "There is something else I think you can help with."

Katara raised an eyebrow. "Okay, what do you need?"

Leia handed the data pad over to Katara. "Take a look."

A couple of glances were all Katara needed. "Huh… you have some kind of critter problem?"

On the pad were journals taken by several scouts over the last few months, detailing various areas around the base. They surveyed possible locations for supplemental facilities, maybe even additions to the base at some point in the future. But they had found several sets of tracks that could not be accounted for, suggesting a form of wildlife that shouldn't be on this inhospitable planet. Katara imagined something with a thick fur coat and plenty of fat, needing both to survive in the harsh cold and intense winter storms.

"There is something out there, that's for certain," Leia said. "I want you to take a team and track down whatever is out there. I believe you have experience tracking in the snow."

"Sokka was the better tracker," Katara admitted, missing her brother very dearly. "Still, I can find just about anything in the tundra. Everyone in our tribe learned to hunt early on."

"Good to hear that," Leia said. "Assemble your team and get to it."

Katara nodded, and then she left the office. She walked through the base, looking for people she wanted to take with her, and asking when she found them. None of them declined, and some were eager to have something to do. Katara made her way to the base's hangar, the main path in and out of the place, and where most of the winter gear was stored. There she got to see ships moving in and out, most here for repair work, others dropping off supplies. She saw plenty more people moving about, and spotted someone she hadn't seen in a while.

"Aang!" Katara yelled, knowing that bald head and arrow tattoo anywhere. "When did you get back?"

"Just a little bit ago," Aang answered, gesturing to one of the small ships in the hangar. "Luke dropped me off with these guys before heading back to Dagobah. So, what have I missed?"

"Not much," Katara said. She pointed a thumb over her shoulder at the hangar doors. "I'm taking a few guys outside to track something down. Care to come along?"

"Sure," Aang said, smiling brightly at the opportunity. "Just let me put some things away and I'll be right back here."

It was only a short delay, and Katara had been patient. Aang quickly dropped off his things and came back, seeing the small group Katara had gathered. They took the winter gear out of storage, putting on thick coats that covered just about everything. In one corner of the hangar was a large pen with strange animals inside, like some weird cross between a camel-goat and a polar bear-dog, which went by the name of tauntauns. There was one for each person in the group, half a dozen of them to take outside into the bitter cold.

Although a tauntaun was no sky bison, Aang still got the hang of riding it quickly. "Okay, let's go."

The hangar doors were opened just wide enough for the largest tauntaun, and they rode through the gap in single file. The cold assaulted them immediately, accompanied by an intense wind, but was kept at bay by the thick clothing. The tauntauns didn't care about the cold, well adapted to the frigid wind, and rode forward as their riders commanded. Still, there was room for improvement, as Aang demonstrated with some airbending. He made the wind blow around them, creating a bubble of calm air that kept the chill away.

Still, the sound of the wind was too loud for conversation, so Katara used hand signals to direct everyone. She guided them around the exterior of the base, heading to one of the places the rebels had scouted. When they arrived Katara climbed off her tauntaun and inspected the place, finding old tracks mostly filled in by snow, enough to tell which direction to go. She pointed to the east before getting back on her tauntaun, and then they rode in that direction. Every so often they would stop and inspect more tracks, following a trail left by whatever creature had been here.

Soon they found brand new tracks, and Katara took a moment to study them. Whatever made them walked on two feet, occasionally using a third limb for balance on uneven terrain. A few strands of white fur in the snow suggested a thick fur coat, essential for survival in the cold, and able to hide in the snow. Deep footprints told of the creature's size, easily over three hundred pounds, and that it could move quickly in the tundra. There was little else to learn from the tracks here, and Katara got back on her tauntaun to follow the tracks further.

The tracks led to a massive snowdrift, easily over fifteen feet deep, or so it seemed at first glance. There was a hole in the side of it, barely visible from most angles, leading into a cave carved out of ice. She wondered how long it took for nature to make such a place, centuries of snow moving and melting and freezing again and again, with a soft center emptied out by the wind. The creature they were tracking had made this place its home, judging by the tracks leading directly into the hole. There was a strange sound inside, like the rumble of a hungry beast feasting on something.

Katara got off her tauntaun and took a few steps to the cave entrance, then looked back at everyone else. "Okay, I'm fairly certain this thing is still in there. Let's see what it is before we try fighting it."

Aang was next off his tauntaun and walked up to Katara, glancing at the cave before looking at her again. "Shouldn't we let someone know we found this place before going in?"

"I think we can handle it," Katara said. Still, it wasn't a bad idea, and she pointed to one of the people still on a tauntaun. "Stay out here and watch the mounts. If something goes wrong, head back and report what we've found."

That person nodded and stayed on his tauntaun, while the others climbed off and walked to Katara and Aang. The group of five walked into the cave together, taking it slow and steady while looking and listening for anything lurking about. A surprising amount of light passed through the snow and ice above them, illuminating the place like it was early evening. The cave itself was surprisingly big, with walls of ice spread around at random, creating a variety of paths to choose from. They stuck to the one in the middle, following the sound of the creature within.

In the largest part of the cave they found their quarry, and they spied on it from around an ice wall. Easily nine feet tall and three feet wide at the shoulders, this white furred beast was slouched over and munching on a fresh piece of meat. It had a pair of horns on the sides of its head, curved inward with the points framing its furry face. The fur around its mouth was stained red with blood, and the creature was nearly done eating its meal. It paused for a moment, looked around, and then went back to eating, unaware of anything in its home.

"That's… big," Aang whispered. He looked at Katara, wondering what she thought about the creature. "Okay, we found it. Now what?"

"Shouldn't be too hard to capture it," Katara whispered back. She looked up at the frozen ceiling. "Only question is if we can do it without bringing down the roof on us."

"Like you would make a rookie mistake like that," Aang whispered. He saw the creature finish its meal, and like any predator it would surely seek out new prey. "Ready?"

"Ready," Katara whispered. She looked at the other three people, all of them nodding in agreement. "On three. One… two… three!"

They leapt out from cover, and snow beside them exploded.

A second creature burst out of the snow, roused from sleep by the intruders, and slammed its whole mass into one of them. There was a loud scream, quickly silenced, and the man was torn limb from limb. Other screams followed, and the reaction was swift and without mercy. Katara summoned a wave of water from the ice, overwhelming the creature before it could kill again, and slammed it into the far wall before freezing the water back into ice several feet thick. Yet that ice still shattered from the creature's strength, and it charged back at the group again.

The first creature had noticed and rushed over as well, pinning the group in between the two of them. Aang created a gale and made it blow snow into the creature, blinding it as well as pushing it back. Katara followed by making a small river inside the cave, making the water flow into the second creature and carry it away, then slamming it into the first. This time Katara froze the water into ice thicker than before, making sure that it would hold the creatures this time. A few cracks formed anyway, but the ice held, and Katara reinforced it with more freezing water.

"Damn it all," Katara muttered, glaring at the creatures she captured. "This wasn't worth someone dying."

Aang looked at the pieces that used to be a person. "What are we going to do?"

Katara sighed and crossed her arms. "Well, we can bring him back at least. Tell everyone what happened here. Give him a proper burial."

"It's the least we could do," Aang said. He turned his attention to the creatures trapped in the ice, taking a second to waterbend little holes to allow them to breathe. They may have been violent, but he wasn't going to let them suffocate. "What are we doing with them?"

"I'm sure Leia would want her people to study them," Katara said. She used waterbending to make a sled of ice underneath them, just to make it easier to move. "Let's get out of here."

The dead man's remains were gathered up, respectfully of course, and brought outside first. Then the creatures trapped in ice were brought out, carefully to be certain they wouldn't break out, and taken into the cold outside. The lookout was shocked to learn that someone had died, and angered when he saw the creatures responsible. The ice prison was attached to the spare tauntaun with ropes, the dead man's remains were loaded onto it, and another rider would lead that tauntaun along. Once everything was ready they set out, heading back to the rebel base at a reasonable pace.

Along the way Aang spotted something in the distance, a speck of black amidst a blue sky and white landscape. He thought he saw a small burst of flame, reminding him of Sozin's Comet, but it was gone as quickly as it came. Whatever it was impacted the land on the horizon, ejecting a plume of snow from the surface into the air, which quickly settled back down. He couldn't even see a crater from here, too small for the naked eye to pick out. No one else had been looking that way and didn't see it, and when it was over Aang wasn't sure if there had been anything at all.

Soon they arrived at the rebel base, and the hangar doors opened to let them inside. People inside were surprised when Katara hauled in a big block of ice with creatures inside, most having believed that there weren't any indigenous predators like them on this planet. Katara turned them over to the rebels for examination, watching them haul the creatures away to be locked up somewhere more secure. The tauntauns were returned to their pen, the winter gear was put away, and the remains of the dead man were delivered to the next of kin.

Aang and Katara were still in the hangar when they saw Leia arrive, and Katara waved toward her. "Hey, we're back. And we found your critters."

"I see that," Leia said, waving an arm towards the icebound creatures being hauled away. She walked over to Aang and Katara, noticing the somber look. "I take it someone didn't come back."

"Yeah," Katara muttered. "It wasn't worth it to capture those things."

"Still, might as well make the loss mean something," Leia said. "There's bound to be more of those things out there. The ones you caught will help us figure out how to deal with them."

Wanting to talk about anything else, Aang changed the subject. "On the way back I saw something fall from the sky. It struck somewhere on the southern horizon from here. Is that normal here?"

"Could be a small meteor," Leia speculated. "Or it could be something worse. I'll have someone check it out later. Thanks for spotting it."

"You're welcome," Aang said. He turned toward Katara. "I'm going to get some rest. It's been a long day. Katara, do you mind if we meet up somewhere tomorrow morning? There's something I could use your help with."

"Sure, anything," Katara said.

"Great, see you then," Aang said.

* * *

The end of the day came and went, though the work of the rebellion did not stop. Although the ships would not arrive or depart during the night, the cold being too much to handle for any vessel, but only the hangar doors would be closed down. Ships still inside continued to be worked on, repairs and maintenance performed to completion, and extra modifications were made with the extra time spent waiting for morning. The night crew took over to do the work, about half the size of the day crew, and got nearly as much work done in the time they had.

At one end of the base there was a section dedicated to research, and there were two new test subjects to experiment on. The creatures captured today had been removed from the ice and placed in steel cages, the bars thick enough to withstand even their considerable strength. Researchers took a liking to the name wampa for the species, having nothing better to call these creatures. Of all the aspects to study, the wampas' fur was especially intriguing, for it was more efficient at retaining heat than even the base's best insulation.

Unbeknownst to anyone else, those weren't the only two wampas around. Drawn by the heat inside of the base, a pack of them were tunneling through the ice that the base was built from. Their tunnel approached from the side opposite from the hangar, near the deepest part of the base, where no one would think of expecting an intrusion. The only warning was a patch of ice becoming transparent, where the ice was thinned by clawed hands. No one saw it in time to sound the alarm, and the wall collapsed into a pile of frozen rubble.

Wampas emerged from the hole, a few at first with more following not far behind. On entry they smelled many appetizing meals, plenty of fresh meat to hunt down. Three of them stalked the halls, tracking the nearest scent, which happened to be a rebel pilot on a midnight stroll. The wampas ambushed him and tore his body apart, and feasted on the bloody chunks of flesh. They fought each other a little for the biggest portion, and the largest of them claimed the pilot's torso. It made plenty of noise, and it carried through the halls of the base.

Another pilot investigated, saw the creatures at the far end of a hallway, and slammed his fist on an alarm mounted on a wall. "We're Under Attack!"

The alarm sounded throughout the base, a loud klaxon that was unmistakable. Everyone in the base awoke from their slumber, even the hardest sleepers were woken by the alarm. People put on their gear, grabbed their weapon of choice, and reported to emergency stations immediately. Although they couldn't know the nature of the alarm just yet, it was clear they were being attacked by something. Response teams were assembled and dispatched, and other personnel secured the vital areas of the base.

But while response teams got ready the wampas continued their hunt, and those that were unfortunate enough to be nearby had to deal with them. Those without weapons bolted their doors shut, and those that had weapons quickly grabbed them. Small blasters were drawn and brought to bear, fired at the wampas wherever they were in sight. Thick hides absorbed the first few shots, though the wampas still bled after getting hit. They were taking damage from the weapons, but all it accomplished was slowing down the wampas.

Awoken by the alarm blasting in his ears, Aang was up and running about. With the wind at his back Aang ran through the hallway, quickly reaching the source of the ruckus. He saw the wampas, recognized the threat they were, and sprang into action. He spun his arms to summon the wind, sending it down the length of the hallway, slamming into the wampas with the force of a hurricane. Lifted off their feet by the wind the wampas were slammed into the far wall, cracking the ice considerably and cracking a few bones.

Aang saw the wampas get back up, their attention fully on him now. "Uh Oh…"

The wampas charged at him, running surprisingly fast for their size. Aang threw more wind down the corridor, slamming it into the charging wampas. But they were ready for it this time, and the wind only slowed them down to a sloth-snail's pace. The wind passed and the wampas charged faster, closing in on Aang in a short moment. Aang switched to waterbending and melted the ceiling, drenched the wampas in the new water, and froze it back into ice. He added more water to make more ice, entombing the wampas in it, leaving only their heads exposed.

But those weren't the only wampas in the base, evidenced by the loud roars elsewhere. Aang followed them to the deep side of the base, quickly reaching the place the wampas had broken into. A group of them were feasting on someone's corpse, and looked at the apparent meal coming their way. These wampas were surprised by airbending, lifted off their feet by the wind, and blown back into the hole they had come in through. Aang then melted the ice and filled the hole with water, refreezing the ice to seal the breach and keep the wampas out.

Only when he had just finished did the first squad of rebels arrive, and Aang turned around to greet them. "Nothing to worry about here, the situation is under control."

Given what the rebels had seen, there was no doubt of that. Still, they stuck around to secure the place, just in case the wampas broke through the ice again. Aang checked with vibration sight, dearly missing Toph as he did so. It was unreliable in the ice, but still saw far enough to tell that the wampas were retreating. He told the rebels such, though only a few believed that he could actually see like that. As far as they could tell there weren't any more wampas coming through, and that the base was secure from internal attacks for the time being.

Meanwhile another group of rebels were dealing with the other wampas Aang trapped in ice, carefully detaching them from the floor to take away. Those were put with the other wampas captured earlier, added to the test subjects for experimentation later. More researchers were assigned to studying them, and several more guards were added in case the wampas broke out of the ice. More people showed up just to see what was going on, and were not disappointed when they heard about the attack and saw the aftermath.

Eventually Leia arrived at the resealed breach, seeing Aang leaning back against a wall. "It seems we have you to thank. This could have been far worse without you here."

"I noticed," Aang said. He looked at the ice he had made, imagining the tunnel that lay beyond. "Now we know why they were skulking around the base. They were trying to get in."

"We would look like a feast to predators," Leia said. She turned towards the rebels nearby, all relieved that the crisis was over. "Close this entire section off. Set up monitoring sensors in adjacent sections. Don't let this happen again."

"Yes ma'am," one man said.

The order was carried out immediately. Workers were brought in to seal off this section of the base, installing metal doors at the ends of compromised hallways. Everything of value was taken out of this section, moved to other parts of the base within a few hours. There were a few complaints from people that didn't want their stuff moved, but were quickly silenced when shown the aftermath of the wampa attack. Once everything was moved and everyone was outside the compromised section, the workers finished sealing it off from the rest of the base.

It wasn't the only precaution taken in light of the attack. When the morning arrived Katara and a few waterbenders got to work, carefully melting and refreezing the ice in parts of the base, making it tougher and more difficult to tunnel through. Critical areas had layers of steel added to the ice, just to be absolutely certain that nothing could claw its way into those areas. Sensors were placed in the outer parts of the base, scanning the ice all around the place, just in case the wampas tried to tunnel in elsewhere.

And just to be absolutely certain, Katara and Aang were sent outside early in the morning, ordered to reinforce the perimeter with waterbending.

"Well this isn't what I wanted to be doing today," Aang grumbled. He melted some snow off the side of the base, moved the water into the proper shape, and froze it into a thick wall of ice. "I guess we'll have to take care of it tomorrow."

Katara added more ice to the wall, and took a moment to adjust her winter clothing for comfort's sake. "I know, it sucks, let's just get it over with."

Fortunately the work was rather easy for them, just tedious from the sheer amount needed to be done. Extra powerful waterbending allowed them to melt vast amounts of snow, put the water into place quickly, and froze into ice with the perfect size and strength. It took all morning for them to reinforce the entire outer perimeter of the base, most of the time spent walking from one part to another. They were done by noon, walked around the base one more time to be sure, and then headed back to the hangar to get back inside.

When they arrived Aang saw a small group in winter clothing, bringing some tauntauns toward the big doors. "Hey guys, what's going on?"

Among the group was Leia, adjusting the hood of her jacket when she heard Aang's voice. She turned and walked over to him and Katara, the others bringing the tauntauns along. "We're going to check out that impact you reported yesterday."

"Oh yeah," Aang said. "I forgot about that. It was a busy night."

"If you're done with the remodeling, could you come with us," Leia asked. "You saw where it hit. That will make it easier to find again."

"Okay, sure," Aang said. "It's not that far from here."

Aang took a moment to grab his own tauntaun, and he joined the group heading outside. He had his tauntaun walk beside Leia's, and he pointed the way to where he saw the impact yesterday. Katara remained in the base, having little reason to go back outside again. Aang remembered where the impact happened, and the group followed him in the right direction. It only took an hour to get there, and Aang recognized the place when they arrived. All the tauntauns stopped there, their riders getting a good look at what they found.

It was a crater in the frozen tundra, roughly ten meters across and three meters deep, exposing the frigid earth underneath the snow. Leia got off her tauntaun and walked to the crater's edge, looking down into the hole for anything interesting. The worrisome part was that she found nothing in the crater, which was atypical for an impact crater. There should have been remnants of the meteor in the crater, small meteorites embedded in the exposed ground and scattered across the snow. Yet there was nothing, as if whatever struck here had gotten up and walked away.

"This could be trouble," Leia muttered. She wanted to imagine a meteor disintegrating completely on impact, but the odds of that were far too low. "We'd better increase surveillance of the area."

Aang had gotten off his tauntaun and walked over to Leia. "Is this bad? Or am I missing something?"

"Possibly," Leia answered. "We won't know for certain until we see it."

If there was something here, it was already long gone. There was nothing that could be done about it now, save returning to base to report their findings. Leia and Aang got back on their tauntauns and marched back to base, leading the others until they reached the hangar doors. When they arrived they got inside and the doors were closed, and everyone put away their winter gear after returning the tauntauns to their pen. From there everyone went their separate ways, and the order for more surveillance was carried out.

Aang found his way back to his room, and he found Katara there waiting for him. "Hey, sorry about that. I wasn't expecting to head out right then and there."

"It's alright," Katara said. She was sitting on the edge of Aang's bed, leaning forward and towards him. "So what was it that you wanted to do today?"

"Well now all I want to do is sleep," Aang admitted. He stretched his sore arms, worn out after a battle at night and all the waterbending today. "It can wait one more day. And I think we could use the rest."

Katara shrugged and stood up, then headed for the door. "If you say so. I'll be back tomorrow then."

"Thanks," Aang said. He stood aside and watched Katara leave. "I should be ready in the morning."


	30. Supernatural Shenanigans

Chapter 30: Supernatural Shenanigans

Aang got a full night's sleep in his small room, one of many just like it in the base. He dreamed of being back on Earth and flying above the clouds, riding on Appa like the good old days. It was a dream he had every night, and sometimes the dream seemed more real than the waking world. The dream ended far too quickly, as it always did, leaving Aang missing his best friend every morning. Aang woke up early in the morning and got ready for the new day, preparing the things he would need for what he wanted to do, and waited for Katara to arrive.

Nearly everything was ready when she did, and when Katara opened the door she stared at the floor. "What's with all the candles?"

A wide circle of candles were spread out on the floor, two dozen of them each with a tiny flame burning. Aang was lighting the last one with firebending from his finger, and he smiled at Katara. "Oh, they're just to set the mood."

"Uh huh…" Katara muttered. She gave Aang an odd look. "Is it really the time for this?"

Aang noticed the look, and he smiled. "No, it's not like that."

"Then what is it?" Katara asked.

"I want to try something, and I need your help," Aang said. He sat down in the circle slightly off center, and he gestured for Katara to sit in front of him. "Come on, sit."

"Okay," Katara muttered. She sat down and looked at Aang up close. "Now what?"

"Close your eyes, relax, and clear your mind," Aang said. He settled into a steady breathing rhythm, and the flames of the candles matched the beat. "Alright, I think we're ready."

"Ready for what?" Katara asked. "You still haven't told me what we're doing."

"Oh, right," Aang said. "We're going into the spirit world."

"From here, with me?" Katara questioned. "Is that even possible?"

"I figured out how to do it a few weeks ago," Aang said. "I think it's our best chance to get Sokka back."

"Really?!" Katara yelled. "Let's get to it then!"

Aang nodded, rested his arms on his crossed legs, holding his hands palm facing up. "Okay, put your hands on mine, and don't think of anything at all."

Katara did as Aang asked, taking hold of his hands and thinking of nothing else. She saw Aang close his eyes, and she did the same, trying to block out as much sensation as possible. Aang cleared his mind and meditated, focusing on the task at hand, particularly on the physical connection he had with Katara. He felt the senses of the physical world fade away, the one with Katara being the only one remaining. Katara felt the same thing, very disconcerting at first, and wondering if this was supposed to be happening.

The feeling of the cold metal floor was replaced by a colder smooth ground, and a gentle breeze ruffled Katara's hair. She opened her eyes, and gawked at the sight before her. "What… Where… WHAT!?"

They were sitting in the middle of a nearly empty void, mostly devoid of features they could comprehend. The ground they sat on was like a pane of glass, impossibly smooth and crystal clear, as if there was nothing there at all. A dull white void was above and below them, and a breeze filled the space in between. Misshapen structures littered the place, all deformed and corrupted in some fashion, barely resembling anything in the physical world. It was like fragments of several different dreams mashed together, forming some bizarre nightmare.

"Well this is different," Aang said. He stood up and looked around, making sure to stay close to Katara. "The spirit world is weird here."

"Weird huh?" Katara said, standing up and staring at the sight. "More like bizarre."

"I guess Hoth doesn't have any native spirits," Aang speculated. In his mind that was a plus for this planet. "Without them, all that's left to shape this place is the thoughts and dreams of the rebels."

"Uh huh…" Katara muttered. She turned her gaze back on Aang. "So how did you pull me here with you? I didn't think that was possible."

"Yoda helped me figure it out," Aang said. "It won't last long though, so we should get moving."

"And go where, exactly?" Katara asked. She looked around again, seeing nothing beyond the closest misshapen structures. "There's nothing here."

"Just trust me on this," Aang said. "It's easier to get around in the spirit world than you think."

"I'll have to take your word on it," Katara said. "How do we do?"

"Focus on a place, imagine yourself being there, and you will be there," Aang described. "It really is that simple."

"Okay…" Katara muttered, trying to wrap her mind around the concept. "Hang on, that doesn't help us. We don't know where Sokka is."

"I know," Aang said. He gave Katara a crafty smile. "But we have a workaround. Focus on Sokka. Remember every memory with him in it, from your childhood to when you last saw him. Picture him in your mind, as lifelike as you can. Make it seem like he is standing right there."

Katara nodded, closed her eyes, and thought about her brother. "Okay, here goes."

She thought back to the earliest memories, when her entire family was playing some silly game in the snow. Then came the worst day of her life, when she had told Sokka she was going to find Mom, and they had lost her forever. It was followed by the best day of her life, when Sokka had asked her to go fishing with him, and they stumbled across the boy in the iceberg. She remembered flying to the North Pole, trekking across the Earth Kingdom, sneaking through the Fire Nation, sharing the experience of helping the Avatar complete his journey.

All the playful teasing came to mind, from getting Sokka wet in that canoe to him drenching her on Hoth. All the good times were remembered fondly, learning about the Water Tribe together to helping restore the world in peacetime. All the bad times came back too, fleeing from Fire Nation soldiers, surviving the widespread destruction in a city, somehow making it through the war with her brother at her side. All the silly jokes got her to smile again, and she imagined all the new ones Sokka would make at a time like this.

Aang saw the surroundings start to lose focus, and he quickly put his hand on Katara's shoulder. "Okay, here we go."

The misshapen structures around them were lost to the unfocused surroundings, this part of the spirit world being left behind. A maelstrom of color whirled around them, passing by in a hurry yet not touching either of them. An unimaginably long distance went by, yet it felt like they weren't moving at all. Even the ground they stood on was moving beneath their feet, slipping through as smooth as ice. Aang thought he saw planets go whizzing past them, though he couldn't be sure of it. The colorful maelstrom ceased as quickly as it came, and the surroundings changed to a completely different place.

"Huh…" Aang muttered. He looked around in every direction, more confused than anything else. "This is new."

They were standing inside a bizarre jungle, unlike anything they had ever seen before. Gigantic palm trees surrounded them, clustered together all over the place. Deep black sand was beneath their feet, hot enough to be uncomfortable but not enough to burn. They heard the calls of strange creatures, nowhere to be seen but heard all around them. Various ferns and bushes of many colors obscured the view, bunched around the giant palm trees with few clear paths in between. Aang didn't have any idea where they were, and Katara got the feeling they were completely lost.

That is, until she heard a very familiar startled scream. Katara's head snapped towards it, certain that she wasn't imagining it. "Sokka!"

Katara ran towards the scream, barging through the foliage without regard for anything living in it. This spooked up a swarm of tiny bugs from the bushes, which Katara swatted away from her face without slowing down. Aang followed close behind, spun his hand around to airbend the bugs away, only to remember that his bending doesn't work in the spirit world. The bugs flew away on their own accord, the swarm dispersing in the presence of two trespassers. They heard the familiar scream again, this time with less panic and more rage.

After crashing through more bushes, Katara finally saw him, recognizing the face underneath the long unkempt hair and the fuzz of a young beard. "There you are."

Space sword drawn, facing down monstrous foes, Sokka's head snapped toward the voice. "Katara?"

The distraction got Sokka struck in the shoulder by a hard fist, nearly knocking the sword out of Sokka's hands. He backed away from that particular foe, which resembled a man made of stone with exaggerated proportions. Next to it was a large black snake with clawed arms, tail coiled up and ready to spring at him. On the other side of the stone man was a strange bird, having small wings but long legs and standing head and shoulders taller than Sokka. All three of them were about to pounce on Sokka, their backs toward Aang and Katara and seemingly unaware of them.

Katara ran towards the closest monster, leaping onto the big bird from behind and wrapping her arms around its thick neck. She tightened her grip around the bird's throat, strangling it until it fell over onto its side. Aang ran for the stone man, going for a leap and kick to its head. The blow knocked the stone man over, falling to the ground with a loud crash. The snake sprang toward Sokka, suddenly alone in its assault, only to meet the edge of Sokka's sword. The black blade cleaved the snake from head to tail, splitting the monster into two symmetrical halves.

The big bird shook Katara off and stood up, saw the bleeding halves of the black snake, and ran away as fast as those big legs could take it. The stone man sank into the ground from right underneath Aang, as if simply disappearing into the dirt, and it did not reappear anywhere nearby. Then the halves of the split snake stopped bleeding and turned into thick smoke, dispersing into the air and leaving nothing behind. It left the three teenagers alone in the strange jungle, getting up and walking towards each other.

But Sokka still held up his space sword, as if to challenge Aang and Katara. "Get back!"

"What?" Katara said, startled by her brother's reaction. "Sokka, it's alright. You can put that away."

Still, Sokka did not sheathe his space sword. "I said get back! I'm not falling for this trick again!"

Aang put his arm in front of Katara, as if to hold her back from Sokka. "Something's wrong here."

"I noticed," Katara said. She held up her arms and kept her hands apart, trying to look as nonthreatening as possible. "Sokka, it's us. We came into the spirit world to find you."

"You're not fooling me!" Sokka warned. "You spirits do all sorts of tricks to get my guard down!"

"You think we're spirits in disguise?" Aang surmised.

"I didn't realize spirits could do that," Katara said. "Sokka, can't you tell that it's really us?"

Sokka braced his legs and held his space sword higher. "Enough of this act!"

He lunged toward Aang and Katara, swinging his space sword at both of them at once. Aang dodged to the right, Katara leaped to the right, and the sword swung through the open air in between. Sokka went after Katara and swung his sword again, but she backed away and the sword missed again. She had to keep on the move to avoid more swings of the sword, and she didn't dare attack him. Katara ran around one of the palm trees, only for Sokka to cut it down in a single swing of his sword. The tree fell ahead of Katara, cut off her path, and Sokka closed in on her.

Katara held up her right arm. "Sokka Stop!"

The blade came down on Katara's arm, just below the elbow, and cut through in one swing. Katara screamed in pain, worse than anything she could imagine. Yet there wasn't any blood, not even a single drop, and Katara's forearm did not fall off. Instead the severed ends of flesh were connected by a blue light, something otherworldly and certainly unsettling. Before her very eyes the blue light changed back into flesh, and Katara watched her arm become whole again. The pain vanished with the light, but the memory of it was fresh and lingered on.

"What the…?" Katara muttered, wishing that she had imagined the experience. It was a reminder that she was in the spirit world, and did not have her physical body. "Oh right… it's just my spirit here."

Sokka was staring at Katara's arm, having seen the entire thing with his own eyes. He had never seen anything like that before, and he had seen a lot of strange things in the spirit world. The wheels were turning in his head, his train of thought quickly moving toward the only possible conclusion. This was not what he had assumed, a spirit masquerading as his sister to lower his guard, but something else entirely. He looked into Katara's eyes, shaking with pain and concern for his sake, something he hadn't seen in a very long time.

"Katara…" Sokka muttered, barely above a whisper. He saw something else in Katara's eyes, something that could not be faked, the same look his little sister made since they were children. "It's really you? Oh god… it really is you!"

"Of course it's me!" Katara scolded. She stood up tall, cradling her right arm, the phantom pain hurting even though her arm looked normal. "You tried to cut my arm off!"

"I'm sorry! I'm very, very sorry!" Sokka said. He sheathed his space sword, difficult while his hands were trembling with regret. "Last time I saw you in this place, it was a spirit trying to trick me. I nearly died when it attacked while still looking like you."

Although she was still upset over the failed maiming, Katara could understand why he did it now. "Just… keep that thing away from me. Alright?"

"Yeah sure," Sokka said. He made sure his space sword was sheathed tight, and he took a step back from Katara. Then he realized something, now that he had time to think. "How are you even here? I thought you couldn't go into the spirit world."

A particularly loud cough got their attention, as Aang was standing not far away. "I'm right here."

"Oh, right, that makes sense," Sokka said, turning toward Aang and walking over to him. "When did you figure out how to bring someone else with you?"

"A few weeks ago," Aang answered. He walked around Sokka and went over to Katara, taking a look at the arm that seemed none the worse for wear. "Are you alright?"

"I think so," Katara said. "Just feeling drained now."

"Good thing you didn't bring your body," Aang said. He turned back toward Sokka, remembering that he had been brought to the spirit world in the flesh. "How is yours holding up?"

"It's in one piece, for what that's worth," Sokka answered. He stretched his left arm and his legs, shuddering at the thought of a few close calls he had over many long months. "These spirits, they try to do a lot of weird things."

"I don't think I want to know," Katara said. She finally put her hand down, and she looked at Aang. "I think we should leave before we find out. How do we do that?"

Aang opened his mouth to answer, hesitated, and need a few seconds to think. He paced back and forth, holding up his hand as if to grab the concepts involved. "We might have a problem."

"Of course we do," Sokka complained. He groaned and shrugged his shoulders. "What is it?"

"If all three of us were here in spirit form, we could just return to our bodies at any time," Aang said. Then he faced Sokka. "But you have your body with you. So that's not going to work. We need to find a physical way out of the spirit world."

"Those exist?" Katara asked.

"They'd have to," Aang said. "If there's a way in, there has to be a way out. It would keep things balanced after all."

"Do you know where to look for it?" Sokka asked.

"Not a clue," Aang admitted. He sighed and threw up his hands. "But we're not leaving the spirit world until we find one."

Since none of them knew which way to look, they picked a random direction and started walking in a straight line. The strange jungle they were in gave way to rolling fields quickly, with an endless sea on their right and a stone cliff on the horizon to their left. The rolling fields were filled with tall grass in a variety of colors, and the wind made the grass seem like a fluid rainbow. Various tiny critters darted back and forth through the grass, making little lines in it that quickly vanished. It would have been a beautiful sight to behold, if they were here to sightsee.

They were halfway across when Sokka stopped walking, out of breath and resting his hands on his knees. "Hang on guys. I just need a breather."

Katara stopped and turned around, feeling none the worse for wear after the walk. "You're exhausted already. We haven't gone that… oh wow we have gone a ways."

Aang looked back the way they came, and the strange jungle was barely on the horizon. "Huh… all that walking and I don't feel a thing."

"Lucky you," Sokka said. The brief rest was enough for him to stand tall again. "I guess there's a benefit to not having your body. You're not wearing it out."

"True," Aang said. "Then we're going to need another approach."

"Can we try that thing we did to find Sokka?" Katara suggested.

"Wouldn't hurt," Aang said. "We'd better hold onto each other so we don't get separated."

"What are you two talking about?" Sokka asked.

"You'll see," Katara promised. She walked closer to Sokka, and Aang was right behind her. "So what should we focus on when we do this?"

Aang needed a moment to think about it, and something came to mind. "Best I can figure is that we focus on the physical world. Hopefully that will bring us to where the spirit world and physical world are closest together."

"I'll have to assume you know what you're doing," Sokka said. "Let's get to it then."

Katara put her right hand on Aang's shoulder, and put her left hand on Sokka's shoulder. The boys crossed arms too, Aang putting his right hand on Sokka and Sokka putting his left hand on Aang. Sokka was a little confused by this, but went along with it anyway. Aang imagined the physical world as best he could, all the sensations of reality that were absent here. Katara remembered all the intense moments of her life, times when it seemed like her life was in danger, the rush of adrenaline that made her feel the most alive.

The scenery started moving around them, slowly at first but steadily picking up speed. Sokka looked at everything moving around them, startled by the sensation of moving while standing still. He wished he had known about this a long time ago, as it would have helped him navigate on several occasions. The shapes and colors moved around them quickly, losing focus and becoming a colorful blur. The rolling plains were left far behind, as well as the sea and stone cliffs gone with it. All three of them watched the blurred colors move by, but noticed something off.

They weren't moving as fast as they had before, and they could still make out a few distinct shapes from time to time. To Aang it felt like they were dragging against something they could not see, some force working against their intended movement. Katara had to tighten her grip on the boys, fearing that she might lose them both. For a moment Sokka thought he was going to be sick, like his insides were being scrambled together. The moving surroundings began to slow down, coming back into focus, eventually coming to a stop.

Now standing on a sandy beach surrounded by shallow seas, Sokka let go of the others and dropped to his knees. "What was that?"

Aang let go too, and he looked around the wide open space. "I guess we have different ideas for where the exit would be. That might be why we ended up here."

"Wherever here is," Katara said. She saw palm trees scattered around the beach in a gigantic spiral, the seas conforming to the same pattern. "Anyone recognize the place?"

"Nope," Aang said. He spotted movement in the distance, and he turned his head toward one group of palm trees. "Did you see that?"

Sokka had his hand on the hilt of his space sword. "Where?"

"That way," Aang said, pointing at those particular trees. "Something's behind there."

"Could be a spirit," Sokka said. He drew his space sword and readied his space shield. "We'd better deal with it before it calls for more of them."

Before Aang could object Sokka was already running towards the trees, and Aang had to sprint to keep up with him. Katara ran after them too, hoping that Sokka wasn't going to get them into too much trouble. He was a few feet away when his approach startled a small creature, resembling a brown bear with stubby arms and legs. It moved surprisingly fast for its size and conspicuously small limbs, easily matching Sokka's pace as it fled. Aang struggled to keep up with Sokka's longer legs, lacking the wind to add to his speed, and Katara overtook him in pursuit of Sokka.

The small creature ran along the edge of the water, leaving small paw prints in the wet sand. Sokka closed in and swung his sword, but was still too far away to hit it, the tip of the blade passing through a bit of brown fur. He swung his sword a few more times, clipped the brown fur bit by bit, not quite reaching the creature's flesh. The creature ran faster to get away from the blade, and Sokka pumped his legs even harder to keep up. It ran past the trees toward the center of the spiral, though Sokka didn't realize it was leading him there.

Falling behind the others, Aang's perspective showed him the danger. "Look Out!"

Katara slid to a stop in time, seeing more of those creatures emerge from the other trees of the spiral. "Sokka, stop, it's a trap!"

Nearly at the center of the spiral, where a clearing separated the curved lines of trees, Sokka quickly found himself surrounded. "Crap."

Three dozen of the creatures were closing in on Sokka, like an army of little bears going for the kill. One of them got ahead of the rest and leaped at him, only to impact his space shield and bounce off. Another leaped from the other side, and Sokka swung his space sword at it, slicing the creature in half at the waist. The two halves fell away and hit the ground, exploding into clouds of dust and fur on impact. More of them leapt from several directions, some knocked back by the shield, others sliced in half by the sword, yet they kept coming at him.

Katara charged in, took a moment to punt a bear over the others, and kicked others that got in her way. It didn't matter that she didn't have her waterbending here, she was going to help her brother no matter what. A few of the creatures pounced on her instead, one receiving a punch to the face, the others latching onto her arms and needing to be thrown off. She was helped by Aang kicking a creature away, and he shoved others away from Katara. Their presence drew attention away from Sokka, making it easier for him to fend off the rest.

After shield bashing a ninth time and slashing an eleventh creature in twain, Sokka only saw more of them coming. "There's no end to these things!"

Aang kicked a creature out of his way, jumped on top of another, and leaped over to Sokka and stood back to back with him. "We need to get out of here!"

"Yeah, sure," Sokka said. He sliced another creature apart, and he felt Aang's back against his own. "They're not giving us an exit!"

Almost through to them both, Katara punched another creature out of her way. "Then we make one!"

She charged through the creatures, passed by the boys, and kept on going in that direction. Aang and Sokka followed the path she made, fending off the creatures that tried to get behind Katara, working together to prevent the creatures from flanking them. Together they carved a path through the creatures, leaving behind the vanishing remains in their wake. Their path forward took them closer to the center of the spiral of trees, into the gap between the ends of each curved line. The creatures followed for a time, but stopped just short of the exact center.

There the ground shook, and Sokka expected something worse. "What now?"

The creatures fled from the tremors, right before the ground split apart. Crevices formed in between the three teenagers, threatening to split the three apart, until Aang and Sokka jumped over to Katara's slice of land. The moving ground brought them closer to the far side of the spiral, toward a line of trees on that side, but their attention was still on the center. A deep hole grew wider every second, the edges of the ground breaking off and falling in, the pieces hitting something rising up from the depths of the underground.

An enormous worm emerged from the hole, accompanies by thinner tentacles on ever side of it. The worm bent over to put its head over the three humans below it, all of them staring at the sight before them. A tentacle whipped at them, was sliced apart by Sokka's sword, only for the severed end to regrow immediately. The worm roared at them anyway, using a mouth that seemed far too big for its head, which then lunged at the three below. They had to jump out of the way, and the mouth snapped at open air, getting a small bit of dirt as well.

"Run!" Aang yelled.

"Obviously!" Sokka yelled back.

"Already Running!" Katara yelled to both of them.

Everyone was moving as quick as they could, Sokka getting in the lead and Aang in the rear. It didn't matter when the tentacles whipped at them, easily long enough to reach them all, snaring each by the legs and lifting them off the ground. They screamed as they were flung into the air, thrown above the head of the worm, mouth opening to swallow them all whole. As they fell Aang grabbed one side of the worm's mouth, Katara grabbed the other side and held on for dear life, and Sokka fell in between them and into the mouth of the worm.

Falling face first Sokka held his sword in front of him, the tip of the blade pointed down as he fell into the worm's throat. He was screaming all the way down, heard Katara's screams from above, both fearing that he was about to die screaming. Halfway down the throat the sword pierced the worm's flesh, its sharp edge cutting through with ease, slicing all the way down into the worm's stomach. The resulting gash split apart, wider and wider the longer it was, the flesh along the sides vanishing into a growing void.

The worm thrashed its head around and let out a roar that shook the ground, flinging both Aang and Katara away from its mouth. They hit the far side of the spiral and tumbled for a bit, stopping just short of hitting some of the trees. Aang recovered first and saw the worm flailing about, spotting the growing gash in its side. It was like a giant zipper coming apart down the length of the worm, the lower end moving beyond Aang's sight into the hole. The higher end moved up as well, reaching the worm's head and splitting it in half.

One last roar came out of the worm, garbled by the split throat, its head raised high into the air. The split in its side grew wider, flesh vanishing into the ether, leaving a void in its place. Aang and Katara stared as the worm vanished from left to right, eerily silent as the entire thing faded away into nothing. When it was completely gone they had trouble believing it, and all they could see now was the big hole in the ground. Then they ran up to the hole and looked into it, seeing nothing but a bottomless pit inside.

"Sokka!" Katara yelled. She leaned over the edge of the hole, cupped her hands around her mouth, yelling even louder into the pit. "Sokka! Say Something!"

The only answer was an echo, which Aang heard as he got to the hole. "What happened to him?"

"I don't know," Katara answered. She looked for Sokka, hoping that he was clinging to a tree root or anything sticking out from the dirt, but there was nothing down there. "I saw him fall into that thing, and then it threw us off. I didn't see him come out."

"Me neither," Aang said. "He must have stabbed the thing, wound from inside."

"Killed it from inside," Katara said. "But where did he end up?"

"No idea," Aang admitted. He turned toward Katara and held a hand out to her. "Let's find out."

Katara grabbed Aang's hand and held on tight, making sure that she wouldn't lose him too. She closed her eyes and focused on her brother, now with today's brief reunion added to the memory of him. Aang waited for the landscape to move around them, but this time it did not happen. They remained exactly where they were, the only change being a gentle breeze ruffling Katara's hair. She opened her eyes and saw Aang's bewilderment, clearly having no idea what was wrong. Katara let go of Aang and clenched her fists, her confusion turning to frustration and anger.

"What are we doing wrong?" Katara asked. "This worked before!"

Aang didn't have an answer for her. "I don't know. I honestly don't know."

* * *

Darkness greeted Sokka when he awoke, looking into a place with no light whatsoever. He was lying face down on a cold stone floor, feeling pain in just about every part of his body. He felt the hilt of his space sword digging into his palm, yet his fingers didn't feel whatever had to be pressing down on the blade. It was difficult to push himself up and onto his knees, as if there were a ton of bricks on his back holding him down. Even when we was sitting upright the weight was still there, and he had a bit of trouble just lifting his sword off the floor.

It was pointless to look around in the absolute darkness, and Sokka knew he was lost in just about every sense of the word. "Okay, where did I end up this time?"


	31. Freezer Burn

Chapter 31: Freezer Burn

It was a nice day on Hoth, which here meant only slightly below zero temperatures and next to no wind. The relatively good weather made it easier to scout across the tundra, though it still required thick clothing to stay warm. A wookie didn't need as much insulation as most rebels, only needing a slightly thinner parka in addition to his natural fur. Chewbacca left deep footprints in the snow, currently heading up the side of a hill, slowing down as he approached the top. He crouched and took cover at the top, looking over the snow and into the small valley on the other side.

Slowly moving across the tundra was an imperial probe droid, seemingly alone on its journey here, barely leaving a mark on the snow beneath it. Chewbacca saw a head appear from behind another hill on the far side of the valley, recognizing Han even with that fuzzy hood on. He saw the hand signal, wanting a quick distraction, so Chewbacca stuck his head up and roared at the droid. It turned and fired a blaster at him, easily avoided simply by ducking behind the hill, allowing Han to shoot the droid from behind.

One shot was enough, though Han hadn't expected that to be the case. That single shot had blown a small hole in the droid, and then the whole thing just exploded. Shredded remains were scattered across the snow, and not a single component of the droid remained intact. Han climbed down from the hill and inspected the remains, his best guess being that the droid had been programmed to self-destruct at the slightest bit of damage. It was a moot observation anyway, given the implications of the probe droid's presence here.

"You can bet the Empire knows we're here."

* * *

Returning to the physical world empty handed, Aang and Katara did not have time to dwell on failure.

An alarm was ringing throughout the base, one that Katara had hoped she would never have to hear. It was a dull and droning klaxon, loud enough to draw attention but not be too distracting. This was the evacuation alarm, and gut instinct was enough to know that it was not a drill. It wasn't the emergency alarm though, which meant there was still time to pack up everything and load it all onto every ship in the hangar. Still, the alarm was confirmation that the Empire was on its way, and soon the base would be nothing but rubble.

Standing up first, Katara had to stretch her cramped arms and legs. "Wonderful… we get back here and we need to leave again."

"And I just unpacked too," Aang complained. He stood up and stretched, then looked around at his few possessions in his room. "Oh well, it won't take long to pack up again."

Katara started walking toward the door. "I have a lot of things to take care of. I'll meet you at the hangar before we leave."

Aang nodded. "Okay. I'll see you there."

He watched her leave the room, and then he turned to his own things. Aang got to work packing them into a bag, needing only a few minutes to get it done. With the bag slung over one shoulder and holding his staff in the other arm, Aang left the room for the last time. He walked through the halls of the base, going around the sealed section, heading down the next best route to the hangar. Along the way he saw people moving back and forth everywhere, hauling important items out of the base, starting with everything that wasn't bolted down.

Halfway through the base Aang came across the central command chamber, filled with rebel officers coordinating the evacuation. Aang peeked inside, saw everyone hard at work, and he walked through the doors for a closer look. He still didn't understand the particulars of the machines in here, just that the stations monitored the base and displayed various kinds of information on several screens. Many of them were showing sensor readouts or status reports, both being interpreted to tell when an attack would come and how ready they would be to defend the base.

In the middle of it all was Leia, and she seemed a little relieved to see Aang walking by. "About time you came out. What were you even doing in there?"

"Doesn't matter, it didn't work anyway," Aang said. He walked over to the chair Leia was sitting in, and he faced the screens in front of her. "So how bad is it out there?"

"Still waiting for their ships to arrive," Leia answered. She put her gaze back on the screens, showing what sensors detected in the Hoth system. "Nothing's out there now but our first transports."

Aang looked at the screens, barely making any sense of what he saw. "How do we know when they get here? Space is pretty big."

"We've got sensors across the system," Leia said. "When they come out of hyperspace, we'll know it."

* * *

In the black void of interstellar space, the stars were nothing more than pinpricks of light in the darkness. Even the closest sun was no different from the stars, merely part of a constellation along the galaxy's ecliptic. There were no planets or moons out this far, only the comets that orbited at the farthest edges of a solar system. Aside from those chunks of ice and the weak solar wind this far from the nearest star, there was nothing of note out here. Nobody had any reason to be in a place like this, hours away from the nearest planet at maximum sub-luminal speed.

This was where a fleet of Star Destroyers emerged from hyperspace, coming out one by one, and flew into a wide V formation. In the middle of that formation was a Super Star Destroyer, the _Executor_ coordinating Death Squadron on approach to this system. Their engines ignited for a brief and intense burn, quickly getting the fleet up to maximum sub-luminal speed, and shut off to coast into the system. It would take some time to approach the outermost planet, but with the engines offline the fleet would be nearly impossible to detect from a distance.

One of the admirals had objected to this strategy, but Grand Admiral Thrawn shot him down. "Surprise would be of use, if we could achieve target lock and fire within seconds of exiting hyperspace. We can't afford to be clumsy with this attack Ozzel."

Through the computer monitor in his office Thrawn saw Ozzel nod, though the look in Ozzel's eye told that he wasn't happy about it. "As you wish."

The monitor went blank when the transmission ended, and Thrawn stood up before leaving his office. He walked all the way to the _Executor_ 's bridge, needing something to do during the long trip. Upon arrival he walked past the bridge crew, hard at work monitoring the ship's systems, making sure that no unnecessary emissions were being made that could be detected from afar. Thrawn walked until he reached the large windows at the front of the bridge, overlooking most of the ship from atop its command tower, and with a view of space ahead of the _Executor_.

There he stood with his hands folded behind his back, looking out into space while listening to the activity on the bridge. By now the closest star could be told apart from all the others, close enough to be distinguished as a sun instead of a speck of light. A smaller speck of light was near the sun, barely visible in its radiance, barely identifiable as a planet from here. Slowly but surely the view of the system improved, its sun growing larger, planet becoming more than a dot, and thousands of specks from an asteroid field appeared.

The Hoth system awaited, and the rebel base with it.

* * *

Afternoon arrived on Hoth, and the evacuation was proceeding well, all things considered.

Granted, only the first few transports had actually left by this point. Those ships carried backups of all data the base contained, information the rebels could not afford to lose. The rest of the transports were still on the ground, constantly being loaded with more equipment and supplies. There wouldn't be any second trips, so each transport needed to be filled to maximum capacity. Everyone in the base helped in one form or another, from dismantling large equipment to hauling the pieces out to coordinating everything in between.

Aang had just finished making a new tunnel through solid ice, the ninth one made with waterbending today, and gestured for people to pass through. "Okay, this one's good, time for the next one."

People came through hauling dismantled computer servers, the last of the bunch that needed to go. Aang turned towards the large transport ships on this end of the tunnel, parked outside of the base some distance from the main hangar. The large cylindrical ships already had their engines running and were ready for takeoff, just waiting for the order to leave. Only one of them was nearly filled to capacity, needing just a few more things loaded up in the remaining space. Aang watched a few people haul server pieces aboard, and then he turned back toward his own work.

He started work on another tunnel, waterbending the ice away to carve another passage into the base. Granted, doing so weakened the base's structural integrity, but that was hardly a concern now. Each tunnel allowed more things to be moved out, and soon enough this place would be abandoned anyway. It took Aang half an hour to make another tunnel, this one leading into the officer quarters section of the base, the next area that needed to be cleared out. Other people were there and ready to haul out the personal effects of the rebel leadership, impressed by the tunnel appearing from the solid wall.

"There you go," Aang said, refreezing water into ice out of the way. "Path's open, get going."

More people passed by Aang, hauling things through the tunnel, not minding Aang as he stayed inside. He needed a break from all the waterbending, and no one was going to tell him otherwise. Aang walked through the base to the mess hall, nearly completely empty at the moment, only one other person in there. He saw Katara sitting at one of the tables, a plate of food in front of her, taking her own break from waterbending to rest and have a quiet meal. She saw Aang and waved, gestured for him to come over, and he pulled up a chair next to her.

"Hard at work?" Katara asked. She pushed her plate toward Aang. "You look like it."

"Yeah," Aang said. He accepted the offer to share, and he sampled a bit of veggies. "But I think enough has been done. We can't make another tunnel without bringing the roof down on us."

"All the good spots are done already anyway," Katara said. She had taken a bite when she noticed dust falling, and she looked up in time to see the ceiling shake. "What's going on up there?"

Aang heard something impact high above them, saw the ceiling shake again, and felt the floor rumble beneath them. "I hope I'm wrong about this…"

They left the table and hurried into the hallway, and they felt another impact above them. Aang quickly made a hole in the ice ceiling, handed the melted water over to Katara, who used it to make a liquid pillar beneath their feet. Together they ascended through the new hole, quickly moving to the top of the base, refreezing water into the hole to close the path beneath them. Outside they were hit by the cold air, willing to tolerate it for a few short moments. That was all the time they would get, given what they saw out here.

It looked like bright white spheres falling from the heavens, impacting the seemingly barren tundra that was the base's rooftop, exploding on contact and blasting craters into the ice and snow. The explosions also sent tremors through the base, fracturing ice inside and shaking supports, collapsing the weaker areas into piles of rubble. But then the sky shimmered with a strange light, as if a clear veil had been wrapped over the world, and the exploding spheres hit that instead. Now the explosions created ripples in the clear veil, unable to pierce it and inflict further damage.

Aang looked at it for just a little bit longer. "They're here."

* * *

It was a rough start to the attack, in Thrawn's opinion.

Someone had given the order to fire before Death Squadron was in position, resulting in the _Nemesis_ launching torpedoes too early. The premature bombardment had inflicted some damage on the planet surface, but not the complete and total devastation the entire fleet could have dealt in one swift blow. That blunder had given the rebels time to raise an energy shield over their base, and early sensor readings indicated that it could withstand bombardment for some time. Depleting the energy shield through sheer brute force would take too long, so an alternative attack method was required.

Thrawn turned toward the closest officer. "Deploy the ground assault."

* * *

Half an hour after the initial bombardment, the next phase of the battle began. That time was spent filling the transports further, and planning a strategy for getting past the Star Destroyers. Although the energy shield protected the base, ships could not leave while it was up. It would need to be lowered in brief intervals, long enough for a transport and its escorts to slip through, and then be raised again before a renewed orbital bombardment. Meanwhile, scouts reported the arrival of imperial ground forces, and the rebels prepared for battle on the surface.

It came in the form of AT-AT walkers, a dozen of them already marching on the surface, more surely on their way. They were on a slow and steady march to attack the rebel base, their large blasters primed and ready to fire, only needing target lock. The power generators for the base weren't within range, but they would be prime targets once the AT-ATs got close enough to shoot them. Airspeeders were deployed to intercept the AT-ATs, each with a pilot and a gunner, willing to give their lives to buy time for the evacuation.

In the gunner seat of one airspeeder, Katara was twisting her neck in a fruitless attempt for a better view from her rear-facing position. "Just tell me when to start."

Piloting the airspeeder was Wedge, the only one trusted enough to escort such a valuable asset. "Just a little more… now!"

The squadron of airspeeders flew in, swarming around the AT-ATs, avoiding the blaster fire that would surely tear the airspeeders apart. Katara saw the legs of an AT-AT on her right, and she got to work waterbending. She melted a long but narrow swath of ice in front of the AT-AT, one of the legs coming down right on the water, plunging into the depths to hit bedrock below. The AT-AT tried to lift the leg free, only for the other front leg to slip and plunge into the water as well. For good measure Katara froze the water on the next pass, trapping the AT-AT in its awkward position.

"One down," Wedge reported. He steered the airspeeder toward the next AT-AT. "I hope you can keep this up. There's a lot more to go."

"Just get me to them," Katara said.

By now the AT-ATs were shooting at the airspeeders, most of their shots missing the quickly moving targets, a few finding their mark. One shot was enough to cripple an airspeeder and bring it down, crashing into the tundra mostly intact. Speed and maneuverability were all that kept the airspeeders airborne, and they circled the AT-ATs like a swarm of moth-gnats. Their smaller blasters were ineffective against the AT-ATS, so tow cables were employed in an unconventional manner, wrapped around the legs to snare and trip them.

A second AT-AT was caught in Katara's waterbending, and she was working on a third when a blaster shot clipped Wedge's airspeeder. "Hang on! We're going down!"

"Holding on!" Katara yelled.

The airspeeder hit the tundra behind the AT-ATs, behind the line of fire, and surviving the impact mostly intact. It was never going to fly again, even if they had to the time to salvage the wreck, so Wedge opened the airspeeder's canopy to let them get out. Cold air hit them in the face immediately, and both were thankful that their orange flight suits had some insulation, even if it was only good for an hour at most. They had more pressing concerns anyway, like dealing with the nearest AT-AT slowly marching away from them.

Wedge pulled out a small blaster, even if it wouldn't do much against an AT-AT. "Do your thing. I'll cover you."

Katara nodded, stretched her arms, and started running toward the AT-AT. "Okay, here goes!"

She melted snow and ice beneath her feet to make a river of water, and she rode upon the current faster than she could run. Katara directed the current ahead and around the front of the AT-AT, then around and around over and over, creating a large moat around the machine. The circle of ice and snow that remained was melted from the outside inward, quickly erasing the patch of stable terrain, filling the entire thing with swirling water. The AT-AT sank into the water until it hit bedrock, spun around in the current, and was facing backwards when Katara froze the water into ice.

Katara came to a stop beside the head of the AT-AT, barely sticking out of the ice and unable to move. "That worked better than I expected."

* * *

The reports were coming in by the dozen, the same thing noticed by all the officers and crewmen down on the surface, all knowing that it was a major threat that needed to be dealt with. Thrawn only needed one to know what was going on, that the rebels were employing a special asset acquired from elsewhere. If it wasn't dealt with now it would surely bring a halt to the ground assault, even if there were more AT-ATs on the way. The delay would certainly allow more rebels to escape, and that could not be allowed to happen.

Fortunately, recent months had provided a countermeasure. "It's sooner than I had planned. Give the order. Blue squad will engage now."

* * *

Another AT-AT had succumbed to Katara's waterbending, intact but stuck in the ice with its blasters pointed away from any targets, and she was already moving on to the next one. But then she saw the back end open up, followed by stormtroopers charging out of the AT-AT. It was rather amusing, that they thought they could fight her here, and Katara barely paid them any mind. But then she saw blue highlights on their armor, replacing about half of the white spaces, and she realized there had to be something special to warrant the different armor.

And then Katara saw them move their arms in a very familiar style. "Oh no…"

These blue stormtroopers swept their hands upward, and a massive wave of water burst up from the ice. The wave hit Katara's current of water and knocked her off it, sending her tumbling across the tundra. She recovered quickly, saw the blue stormtroopers exiting the AT-AT, riding down on slides of ice. They hadn't even reached the bottom before Katara melted those slides and whipped the water away, letting the blue stormtroopers fall the rest of the way. Then she drenched the blue stormtroopers in water and froze it solid, stopping them from moving and stopping them from waterbending.

But then Katara heard more flowing water, turned to see more blue stormtroopers emerging from the rest of the AT-ATs, and she went for the radio attached to her belt. "Hey, whoever's listening, the Empire brought waterbenders! Repeat: _the Empire brought waterbenders!"_

The voice of Leia came through the radio. _"It had to happen eventually. Hold them off as long as possible. You're the only one out there who can."_

Another massive wave of water was hurled at Katara, but with just one arm she made it flow in a different direction. "This is going to get harder when they get used to being more powerful."

" _Just keep them busy,"_ Leia ordered.

"Yeah," Katara said, and she shut off the radio. "Not like I do this for a living or anything…"

* * *

Inside the heads of the AT-ATs, imperial officers and operators were leading the ground assault. Although several of their number had been trapped in ice or tripped by tow cables, enough of them remained to advance toward the rebel base. Their slow and steady advance was bringing the base within firing range, and they would have target lock in just a few moments. The officers could see power generators just barely out of range, their destruction would bring down the energy shield and allow for aerial support.

And yet, right when the power generators were in range, a sudden snowstorm appeared and hid the targets behind the white veil. "What the… there was nothing in the forecast about a blizzard."

* * *

Aang was standing atop the rebel base, staff in hand and spinning it over his head. His eyes and tattoos were glowing in the Avatar State, the latter glow hidden by the thick clothes he had put on before coming outside again. With that power and his spinning staff Aang whipped up a massive whirlwind, lifting snow off the ground and blowing it into a massive blizzard. The veil of snow hid the base from view, and bought the rebels some desperately needed time. Aang kept up the air and waterbending until the blizzard was self-sustaining, for the short term at the very least.

The blizzard hampered the evacuation a little, but it was still manageable and worth the extra time. Transports were leaving the base one by one, flying by sensors instead of visual, making it through the blizzard without much trouble. The X-Wings and Y-Wings escorting the transports endured a bit of turbulence, their pilots fearing possibly collision with the transports, until they were out of the whirling snow. Ion cannons supporting the transports and fighters were already targeting on long range sensors, so the obscured visuals didn't matter to them.

For good measure Aang unfolded his glider to fly above the blizzard, dived through the snow in front of the base, landing in the midst of the blizzard out of sight. For good measure he went back into the Avatar State and raised a massive wall of ice, hidden in the blizzard from outside view, one more surprise for the imperials to deal with. Once the wall was finished Aang left the Avatar State and took flight, heading back to the rebel base to escape the storm. He landed just outside the hangar and ran inside, folding up his glider along the way.

"Avatar coming through," Aang said as he ran, the wind at his back to speed his way. He quickly made it to the control room, where Leia was still coordinating the evacuation with the other officers. "We need to leave right now. We've got a few minutes tops before the Empire gets in here."

"I know!" Leia yelled. Still, she didn't leave her station, getting back on the radio instead. "Everyone fall back! Get every ship in the air and follow the last transport out. You too Katara, get out of there."

"Katara's still out there!" Aang blurted out.

" _Already on my way!"_ Katara reported. _"Their spreading out… wait… crap… not good… this is definitely not good!"_

"What's going on out there?" Leia demanded.

" _They went under the ice!"_ Katara warned. _"I can't get to them all in time!"_

"Which means we have no time to lose," Aang said.

Leia finally got up and turned toward the door. "Agreed."

The other officers were already heading out the door, running past Aang on their way out. He turned around as Leia ran by, matching her pace and leaving the control room. They ran into the hallway and followed the other officers, but didn't get far before the floor shook beneath their feet. Aang stopped and grabbed Leia's sleeve to hold her back, right before thick shards of ice burst upward ahead of them. That ice melted, flowed into a tall ring of water, and blue stormtroopers rose up on a platform of newly frozen ice.

Leia cursed and drew a blaster, though her shots were blocked by the flowing water. The blue stormtroopers bent the water into several tendrils, all of them reaching toward Aang and Leia. With a wave of his hand Aang seized control of the tendrils and turned them back on the blue stormtroopers, slamming each with water and pinning them to the walls before freezing them there. For good measure Aang added more ice on top of the pinned stormtroopers, making sure they couldn't move and waterbend themselves free.

"Should we take one of them with us?" Aang asked. "I mean, I think we need to know how the Empire coerced them into those uniforms."

"We're not in a position to take prisoners," Leia said. "We'll deal with this issue later."

"Fair enough," Aang admitted.

They resumed their run through the base, needing to catch up with everyone else ahead of them. Along the way more blue stormtroopers emerged from the ice, their waterbending easily countered by Aang's, little more than a speedbump for him and Leia. Still, more and more of them were storming the base, entering every part of the place they could find. Although Aang didn't have trouble getting by, the same could not be said for the other rebels trying to flee. Piece by piece the base fell to the enemy, though most of it had already been evacuated.

Aang stopped at a sealed door, tore a warning sign off it, and resumed the run with Leia. "That ought to divert some of them."

Sure enough, when blue stormtroopers came by a minute later, they barged through the sealed door without hesitation. They rushed through into the abandoned part of the base, unaware of why no one was in there. They soon found out, evidenced by their screams echoing through the halls. Aang imagined wampas fighting the blue stormtroopers, and considered himself fortunate to not be mixed up in that. It kept them busy for a little while, until the blue stormtroopers figured out how to properly deal with the wampas.

In a minute Aang and Leia made it outside, reaching the transport just about to take off. "We made it."

However, when they got inside the transport, Aang didn't see someone in particular. "Where's Katara?"

Leia grabbed a radio and held it between her and Aang. "Katara report your position."

" _I'm just outside the hangar!_ " Katara yelled through the radio. _"I got hung up on some waterbending, I'll be there in a minute!"_

A large explosion went off elsewhere, and the veil in the sky that was the energy shield shimmered and faded away. Leia saw it happen, realized that the AT-ATs had finally destroyed the generators, and that they were out of time. "The transport's taking off now."

"We can't leave Katara behind!" Aang yelled.

"I know," Leia said. She switched the radio to another frequency. "Han, are you still in the hangar?"

" _Really wish I wasn't,"_ Han reported. A loud crash came through the radio. _"Get that off the cockpit… Anyway, Leia, still in the hangar, trying to leave, talking isn't helping."_

"Just needed to know where the _Falcon_ is," Leia said. She switched back to the first frequency. "Katara, get into the hangar and get on the _Falcon_. I'm sending Aang over to help clear a path."

" _Got it!"_ Katara said.

Leia looked to Aang. "Go."

Aang nodded. "Thank you."

He left the transport immediately, and the door slammed shut behind him. The transport took off immediately, creating a draft that hit Aang from behind, which he airbent into a wind at his back to speed him along. Aang ran around the perimeter of the base, avoiding the large blaster bolts flying by overhead, making it to the hangar in record time. The large door had been blasted open, the hole large enough for a person to get through, but not for a spaceship. Somehow the roof of the hangar remained mostly intact, the one small part that collapsed having done so on top of the _Millennium Falcon_.

Han and Chewbacca had been making last minute repairs when the attack began, and were nearly finished by now. Aang stopped in front of the _Falcon_ , turned back toward the hole in the door, and realized it wasn't going to let the _Falcon_ through. He looked up next, remembered that the hangar was carved out of ice, and got to work waterbending a new hole in the ceiling big enough to let the _Falcon_ out. Han appreciated the work, since he was going to need to make a quick exit. Aang was finished in half a minute, and he turned his attention back to the ship.

"Are we ready to go?" Aang asked.

"Just about," Han said. He put a panel back on the hull. "Okay everyone inside!"

"Wait," Aang said. "Where's-"

A sudden torrent of water burst through the hole in the hangar door, crashing into the floor of the hangar, and Katara came to a stop in front of the _Falcon_. "Sorry I'm late."

"Actually, you're right on time," Aang said.

Aang ran for the _Falcon_ , Katara was right behind him, and they reached the entry ramp just when it started to close. The _Falcon_ lifted off immediately after, knocking Aang and Katara off their feet, slamming into the metal floor. Then the _Falcon_ tipped up to fly through the hole in the ceiling, throwing Aang and Katara toward the rear end of the ship. The _Falcon_ leveled off and gravity returned to normal, allowing Aang and Katara to make their way to the cockpit. When they got there they saw Han and Chewbacca at the controls, and through the windshield they saw the last transport directly ahead.

"Hang on to something," Han advised. "This is going to get rough."

Torpedoes were falling from the sky again, now that the energy shield had been disabled and permitting orbital bombardment. Shields protected the transport from the onslaught, for as long as they could hold up anyway. Smaller ships like the _Falcon_ and assorted fighters had to avoid the torpedoes, for one hit would blow them pieces. Han kept the _Falcon_ in the shadow of the transport, relying on the larger ship's shields to provide some form of shelter. Strong turbulence battered the _Falcon_ , shifting the ship back and forth, rocking everyone inside.

Soon the view changed from blue sky to black space, and the fleet of Star Destroyers came into view. Several had been disabled by the rebel base's ion cannons, their shots having shut down ship systems without destroying them. The other Star Destroyers maneuvered to compensate, shooting at every rebel ship they saw. There was a small gap in the formation, and the transport flew for it with engines at maximum burn, trying to get through before the gap closed. The transport's shields took a heavy beating, nearly failed by the time it got through, and on the far side it made the jump to hyperspace.

"There goes Leia," Aang said.

"Barely," Han noted. He saw the gap between Star Destroyers close on them, and he had the _Falcon_ bank right. "Hold on!"

The _Falcon_ flew over the dorsal hull of a Star Destroyer, barely evading blaster fire from its turrets, swaying left and right to avoid getting in target lock. TIE Fighters were launched and pursued the _Falcon_ , shooting constantly just to get a single hit, and it took every piloting trick Han had to avoid being shot down. When they passed the side of the Star Destroyer he made the _Falcon_ dive, getting beneath the large engines, forcing the enemy ship to switch to ventral turrets. From there Han looked for the emptiest patch of space he could find, and Chewbacca was already plotting the hyperspace jump.

"There!" Han shouted, steering the Falcon toward a group of bright stars. "Punch it!"

Chewbacca pushed the lever forward, the stars turned into streaks, and the _Millennium Falcon_ made the jump to hyperspace.

* * *

Thrawn was disappointed, but not all that surprised. After all, the _Millennium Falcon_ had a reputation for narrow escapes.

It wasn't a total loss, all things considered. The primary objective of destroying the rebel base had been achieved, leaving the rebel survivors without a secure headquarters. The secondary objective of exterminating the rebels had admittedly been a failure, given that at least half of them had escaped. The tertiary objective of field testing blue squad had been a success, having been able to counter the rebels' waterbending to some degree and keep the ground assault on schedule. All in all, this was a good day for the Empire.

"Calculate the probable exit points the rebels might use," Thrawn ordered, and the officers and bridge crew immediately got to work. "Pursue when ready. We will not give them a chance to hide."


	32. Old Friends

Chapter 32: Old Friends

When the view through the cockpit returned to the void of space, there was nothing to see but distant stars.

The _Millennium Falcon_ emerged from hyperspace shortly after entering it, lacking the proper calculations for a long distance journey. Thus it emerged in the space between systems, with nothing but the interstellar medium and distant starlight for company. The engines were shut down and the ship drifted through the void, slightly rotating clockwise as it moved forward. Navigational scanners were brought online to determine exactly where they were, using the positions of known stars calculating the distances.

"Well we made it out of there," Aang said. He managed to hide most of his discomfort here, not having any bending in space. "Where are we?"

"In the middle of nowhere," Han answered. He got to work with the navigation computer, using it to calculate their current position. "Still, we'd better leave before the Empire follows us here."

"Good, let's meet up with Leia and everyone else," Katara said.

"That'd be great," Han said. He turned his chair toward Katara and Aang, seeing worried looks from them both. "If we had enough fuel."

"What?" Katara blurted out.

"You heard me," Han said. He tapped a finger on the fuel gauge, the needle near the bottom. "We burnt up too much during the escape. So we are kind of limited on how far we can go."

"Wonderful," Aang complained, throwing up his arms and then slouching his shoulders. "Let me guess, there's nowhere we can get to?"

Han checked the results from the navigation computer, discovered exactly where they were, and one idea sprang to mind. "Lando…"

"Is that someone you know?" Katara asked.

"It's been a while, but yeah I know him," Han said.

Chewbacca growled something at him.

"Yeah Chewy, he probably won't be happy to see us," Han admitted. He tried to think of somewhere else to go, but no alternatives came to mind. "Alright, we're going to Bespin."

* * *

Meanwhile, it was a peaceful day on Dagobah.

Granted, there was very little variation to the weather on this swamp planet. Every morning the fog came in, broke apart an hour before noon, and a little bit of sunlight pierced the treetops in the afternoon. The constantly moist air wasn't pleasurable for most people, but Luke had gotten used to it during his training here. But today the air was drier than usual, more sunlight came through wider gaps in the foliage, and the bugs were retreating into their little holes. That was good enough for Luke to call this day better than most, and a pleasant day to continue his training.

Over the long months Luke had only left Dagobah a few times, and returned with a few days of his departure. Once to inform the rebellion of what he was doing, again to pick up supplies for an extended stay, and most recently to bring Aang to a rebel transport for passage to Hoth. Aside from those little jaunts Luke spent the entire time here, learning about the Force from Yoda day in and day out. Luke knew that Leia and other rebel leaders weren't happy about it, but they could understand why he needed to do this training.

Today Luke was sitting on a smooth stone, surrounded by a ring of bright sunshine, eyes closed and focusing on the power within him. From a higher boulder Yoda watched and instructed, just as he did every other day Luke was here. Through the Force Luke felt the world around him, from the trees to the rocks to all the animals of the swamp. One by one they floated off the ground and moved around, going to wherever Luke wanted them to go. Even R2-D2 floated into the air, wildly beeping and screeching all the while.

Yoda heard the droid's panic, saw Luke continue in spite of it, and he nodded in approval. "Yes, good, maintain your focus. Keep to the task at hand. Do not let distractions sway you."

Luke didn't answer, which was the correct answer. He kept his mind on the Force, keeping all the rocks and droid and miscellaneous junk floating in the air. Even the boulder Yoda stood on came free from the ground, and he gladly went along for the ride. One by one the rocks were stacked on top of each other, most of the junk put on top of the rocks, and RD-D2 placed with Yoda at the top of the stack. R2-D2 screeched at Yoda, who scowled back at the droid, neither liking the other very much. Complaining was all the droid could do at the moment, as it usually did since arriving here.

Then the tower of rocks and junk came apart, the pieces floating away from each other, returning to the places they had been taken from. But then Luke's focus wavered, the strain apparent on his face, before some of the rocks fell to the ground. R2-D2 was dropped and fell on its side, and the boulder Yoda stood on crashed down beside the droid. Luke sighed and opened his eyes, relieved that the exercise was over, disappointed that it ended the same as it always did. He stood up and walked over to Yoda, bending his knees to get down to his teacher's eye level.

"Sorry," Luke said. He reached over to R2-D2 and lifted up the droid, getting it upright so it could roll away. "I keep missing the landing."

"Something is on your mind," Yoda said. "It is holding you back."

Luke sighed and looked away, his eye drawn to the X-Wing parked in a nearby clearing. "It's just… everyone I know is out there fighting the Empire, and I've been spending most of my time here instead of helping in the fight. I feel like I should be doing more than just training here."

"Anyone can pilot a ship and shoot a gun," Yoda said. He walked over to a sunlit spot, taking a moment to bath in the sunshine. "Few can learn what you have learned here. Fewer still can possibly master it. And it will be necessary to end the war your friends are fighting."

"I'm just having trouble seeing it," Luke admitted. He sighed again and turned toward Yoda. "And I get the feeling I just missed a very important fight. It's like I need to be there right now."

"I will not make you stay," Yoda said. Still, he had to voice his disapproval. "But I advise against it. There is still much for you to learn."

Luke nodded, but turned back toward the X-Wing anyway. "I know. But I need to take of this. I'll come back as soon as I can."

Disappointed, but not surprised, Yoda took a few steps toward Luke. "Do what you must, and then return here to complete your training."

"Thank you," Luke said. He walked toward the X-Wing, passing by the droid on the way. "Come along R2, let's get going."

R2-D2 made a lot of beeps, clearly happy to leave this place, hoping for more than a few days this time.

* * *

The _Millennium Falcon_ emerged from hyperspace in the outskirts of a solar system, unlikely to make another jump without refueling first. Three planets orbited a slightly larger than typical star, surrounded by a variety of asteroids crossing their respective orbits. Two of the planets were uninhabitable wastelands, one scorched rock and the other covered in oceans of lava. The third planet was a large gas giant, no rings to speak of and only two major moons, along with many minor moons barely larger than asteroids.

Coasting into the system, Han steered the _Falcon_ toward the gas giant. "There it is, Bespin."

Reminded of the last time she visited a gas giant, and the immense power she had there, Katara was eager to experience it again. "Alright, which moon are we going to land on?"

"None of them," Han answered. He saw the look of shock on Aang and Katara. "You heard me."

Aang needed a moment to think about that. "So how do we land on one of those? I'm told they don't have land."

"You'll see," Han promised. "On your first time, it really takes your breath away."

The _Falcon_ continued on its trip to Bespin, scanning for any signs of the Empire along the way, and finding none to speak of. There weren't even any navigation beacons anywhere in the system, though Han had expected to find none. This was the start of an elaborate smuggling operation, and thus it wouldn't do to be broadcasting the fact that people were here. There were a few ships passing to and from Bespin, smuggler vessels moving contraband in and out of the system. They didn't bother the _Falcon_ , and Han didn't bother them, passing by without incident.

However, when the _Falcon_ entered Bespin's upper atmosphere, it quickly drew attention. A pair of patrol ships emerged from thick clouds and flew beside the _Falcon_ , both resembling a pair of cylinders strapped together, flying uncomfortably close for Han's liking. Still, he remained calm and flew the ship on a steady course, trying to avoid upsetting whoever was piloting the patrols. And yet they fired a warning shot anyway, small torpedoes exploding in front of the _Falcon_ , close enough to shake the ship but not damage it.

Han was on the radio trying to talk some sense into the pilots. "Look, I'm just trying to reach Lando Calrissian. Let me explain."

The pilot wasn't interested in explanations. _"You will not deviate from your present course._ "

"Are you sure you know this guy that well?" Katara asked.

"Of course," Han said. He could see that wasn't enough for her, so he tried to come up with an explanation. "It's just been a while. I'm sure he's being cautious."

A minute when by before the pilot relayed a message from his superiors. _"Permission granted. Land on platform three four seven."_

"Thank you," Han said. "Nothing to worry about. We go way back Lando and me."

The _Falcon_ continued on its way, and the patrol ships remained as an escort. They passed through several large clouds, and on the other side was the destination. At first glance it resembled a metal mushroom hanging in the sky, kept upright by forces Katara did not understand. As they got closer they saw buildings on the top, a city suspended above the clouds. Aang's jaw dropped at the sight of it, for he was at a loss for words. Even in his wildest dreams he never imagined a place like this, yet could easily see himself feeling at home here.

"Cloud City," Han said. "I'm sure you can guess why it's called that."

It took a few more minutes to reach Cloud City, and the patrol ships guided the _Falcon_ to the correct landing platform. It was near the center of the city, the path taking them past several tall buildings, ending in front of a grey square building. The _Falcon_ landed on the circular platform, connected to the building by a narrow bridge. The patrol ships continued on their way, returning to their normal routes. After landing the Falcon's entry ramp opened, everyone walked out of the ship, only to find no one there to greet them.

Han and Chewbacca were out first, being careful given their history with smugglers, a little concerned about being left along like this. "Keep your eyes open."

Katara and Aang were right behind them, though Katara noticed a strange smile on Aang. "What are you so happy about?"

"I'm feeling pretty good here," Aang said. He crossed his arms behind his head, as relaxed as he could possibly be. "Kind of hoping this is a trap, just to see what I can do now."

Large doors opened, and a group of people came walking out of the building. Leading them was a tall man with dark skin and short black hair, having a short mustache and a smile that was almost begging to be punched off. The man had a long blue cape that drew the eye away from his plain blue shirt and dark pants, and the cape was fluttering in the wind as he walked across the bridge. The other people were a mix of bodyguards and administrative staff, all in plain clothes of course, but making it clear that they were armed.

"Why you slimy double-crossing no-good swindler," Lando said to Han. "You've got a lot of guts coming back here, after what you pulled."

There were a few held breaths, wondering if it was a mistake to come here. Lando kept walking until he was right in front of Han, and the two men looked into each other's eyes. The only sound was the wind blowing through, and Aang was tempted to interrupt just to use the wind. But then Lando smiled, and Han smiled too, and they embraced in the kind of hug only best friends could make. Everyone was relieved, everyone relaxed, and everyone saw Lando and Han take a step back from each other, both laughing like this was some elaborate act.

"What are you doing here?" Lando asked.

"Oh repairs, refueling, I thought you could help me out," Han answered.

"You haven't been taking care of my ship," Lando accused.

"Your ship?" Han questioned. "Remember, you lost her to me fair and square."

Lando ignored that and looked past Han, spotting the wookie right behind. "And how are you doing Chewbacca? Still hanging around with this loser?"

Chewbacca growled something at him, which Lando took as a compliment.

By then Katara and Aang had walked up to this little meeting, stopping to stand beside Han and Chewbacca. Katara crossed her arms and looked at Lando. "Not what I expected."

Lando looked at the two teenagers with Han. "I don't think we've had the pleasure."

"Oh, right," Han said. He waved a hand between the three people. "Lando, these are Aang and Katara."

"Welcome," Lando said. "I'm Lando Calrissian, the administrator of this facility."

"Nice to meet you," Aang said. "Nice place you got here."

"Thank you," Lando said. He smiled and looked at the view from here. "Just my little pride and joy."

"I'm sure they would enjoy the tour," Han said.

"Later, of course," Lando said. He turned around and started walking back across the bridge, now with Han walking at his side. "What's wrong with the _Falcon_?"

"Burning up too much fuel," Han answered. "Needs a fill-up now, but a new intake manifold couldn't hurt, if you have one to spare."

"I'll have my people work on it," Lando promised. "That ship's saved my life quite a few times. Fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy."

* * *

Missing that good old hunk of junk, Luke wished his X-Wing was faster.

The trip took a few hours, and there was nothing to do while the autopilot handled navigation. All Luke could do was try to meditate, reflect on the teaching he had learned so far, imagining himself back on Dagobah going through the lessons. But it was difficult for him to do that now, his thoughts always turning back to his friends, worrying about what was going on without him. It was a relief when the autopilot set off an alert, telling him that he had nearly arrived. Luke put his hands back on the controls, and at the right moment took the X-Wing out of hyperspace.

The blue void was replaced by the black void, and Luke immediately swerved to the left. "Whoa!"

Barely avoiding a collision with a hull fragment, the X-Wing flew into a debris field. It took careful navigating to avoid more collisions, weaving back and forth through large chunks of twisted metal. After passing through the debris field the X-Wing flew through mostly empty space, and Luke saw more debris up ahead. Then he recognized some of the fragments, belonging to the hulls of rebel transports, broken apart in a recent battle. And the space around Hoth was littered with them, the pieces gradually settling into a ring system around the planet.

"What happened here?" Luke wondered aloud.

A lot of beeping came from R2-D2, alerting him to someone on sensors.

"I see it," Luke said. He quickly changed course. "Star Destroyers right ahead."

Several of them were in orbit around Hoth, directly above the rebel base. Some were already leaving orbit, preparing to make the jump to hyperspace and leave this remote system behind. A few were making emergency repairs, damaged during a battle here, and would be fully operational soon. One was dropping torpedoes onto the planet, bombing what little was left of the rebel base. The rest were actively scanning the system for any remnants of rebel forces, and they quickly discovered the lone X-Wing flying in the wrong direction.

"Time to go," Luke said.

He turned the X-Wing around and flew away from Hoth, only to see more debris between him and a good vector for a hyperspace jump. There wasn't enough time for proper navigation, what with a swarm of TIE Fighters heading his way. Luke opened fire on the debris to clear a path, shooting his way through to reach the other side. A few small fragments struck the winds of his ship, leaving minor gashes in the metal. R2-D2 complained about a near miss, Luke apologized, and swerved to the right after passing through the debris.

But then a sudden yank to the left shook Luke around the cockpit, and he scrambled to find out why. He quickly spotted another Star Destroyer, coming closer far faster than it should have been. It had him caught in a tractor beam, steadily reeling him in toward the Star Destroyer's hangar. Luke didn't dare try to brute force his way out, for that would tear the X-Wing apart. He could rotate the ship safely, and doing so revealed pieces of debris caught in the tractor beam with him. Luke got a crazy idea, really the only thing he could try.

Luke opened fire on the debris, blasting it apart into smaller pieces that scattered apart. A cloud of fragmented metal flew down the tractor beam, weakening the grip it had on the X-Wing. The tractor beam narrowed and intensified, the operator trying to compensate, unaware of the true danger. Luke fired on more debris outside the tractor beam, scattering some of the pieces into it, compounding the problem he was creating. The pieces of metal were pulled faster than the X-Wing, accelerating in the pull of the tractor beam, and crashed into the tractor beam's emitters.

The collision damaged the emitters, forcing the tractor beam to shut down and release the X-Wing. Luke turned the ship back around and engaged the throttle to maximum, flying away from the Star Destroyer as fast as he could. But more of them were on their way, and the TIE Fighters were closing in on him. All the desirable escape vectors were blocked in some form or another, and the few vectors of clear space that remained were clenching shut fast. Luke turned the X-Wing toward the largest escape vector, and didn't bother to make the calculations before jumping to hyperspace.

"That was close," Luke admitted. He sighed, and realized that he had no idea where this course would take him. But he didn't drop out of hyperspace now, but relaxed and calmly kept his hands on the controls. "Just trust my instincts, and hope the Force knows the way."

* * *

While the maintenance workers tended to the _Millennium Falcon_ and its many issues, Han and the others had time to spare.

Han and Chewbacca spent it catching up with Lando, swapping stories from the last few years, both embellishing the details to one up the other. Han told of how he got roped into the rebel alliance, admitting that he might be getting a little sentimental as time went by. Lando told of his efforts to keep Cloud City hidden from the Empire and still make a decent profit, and admitted that he had needed to become respectable to do it. Chewbacca made snide remarks during the conversation, and both men joked back at the wookie.

Aang and Katara were given a tour of Cloud City, escorted by a security guard and a protocol droid. They travelled in a small hovering vehicle, the top open and exposed to the elements, letting the wind sooth Aang's scalp and blow through Katara's hair. They got to see all the buildings atop the city, visited the wide and deep shaft in the center, and got to see the edges of the structure that city stood atop. And they saw civilians and workers going about their business, all centered around the operation to extract a precious resource from the gas giant.

They stopped at a viewing platform near the edge of the city, and Aang looking through mounted binoculars. "Now that looks like a lot of fun."

Looking out at a band of thick clouds in the distance, Katara wasn't sure what he was referring to. "Is something going on out there?"

Aang stepped aside to let Katara use the binoculars. "Take a look."

Katara did, and she saw what Aang had seen. There were large ships in the clouds, flying in methodical yet graceful patterns, sucking up the clouds and storing the vapors in large tanks. "What are they doing?"

"Must be that mining thing Han and Lando talked about," Aang assumed. He got another turn at the binoculars, looking out at the ships mining clouds. "Never would have thought you could do this."

"Must be special clouds," Katara said. She leaned forward on a railing. "Pretty too."

For a little bit they simply enjoyed the view, yet another alien world they could not have imagined. It actually seemed kind of peaceful here, isolated from the galaxy at large, far beneath the notice of the Empire. They got to see a few cargo ships leave Cloud City and vanish in the sky, filled with the refined gas mined from this planet. Aang was tempted to go get his glider and fly out there for a closer look at the mining operation, wondering if he could outperform the machines with airbending. Katara was ready to leave, but patiently waited for Aang.

A loud siren went off, echoing throughout the city, drawing Aang back to the here and now. "What's that?"

The security guard escorting them hurried over. "We need to go now."

There was no point arguing, or even a slight delay to ask why, and everyone was back in the vehicle and moving again. As the buildings went by Katara still heard the siren. "What's going on?"

The protocol droid with them answered. "That is the imperial alert. Scout ships have been detected in the system. We will need to power down all non-essential systems to avoid detection."

"Does that include you?" Aang asked.

The guard driving the vehicle reached over and shut off the droid. "Yes."

By the time they arrived most of the lights in the city had been turned off, and nearly every vehicle had landed and powered down. Aang and Katara were escorted inside, passed through the halls, and brought to a command center of sorts. It was where Lando had brought Han and Chewbacca, and they were busy looking at the sensor data coming in. Aang still couldn't make any sense of it, and Katara only had the most basic understanding. It was clear that the Empire was investigating the system, and they had a few small ships heading straight for Bespin.

"Did they follow you here?" Lando asked.

"No one saw our second jump," Han said. Still, he realized he should have expected this. "The rebel base wasn't very far from here. They might just be checking the surrounding systems."

Lando picked up a communicator and set it for a city-wide broadcast. "Attention, this is Lando Calrission. This may be the time the Empire finds us. We will be going dark for the time being. Remain calm and do not panic. If we do this right, we just might come through unscathed. Lando out."

"I trust you have something in mind?" Han asked.

"Of course I do," Lando said. He turned to one of his senior staff, the bald guy with some kind of device attached to his head. "Make us dark, take us down."

The staff quickly got to work, and made Lando's plan happen. The city's main reactors were powered down, and minimal emergency power was brought online. Every light in the city went dark, and every signal transmitted from here was silenced. And then the entire city sank into the clouds, gently descending into the gas giant. In minutes the clouds covered the city completely, shrouding the streets in near total darkness. From above the city simply vanished, as if it had never been there in the first place.

"And now we wait," Lando said. He sighed and looked at Han and the others. "Know any good waiting games? We might be dark for a while."

* * *

When he felt that the time was right, Luke dropped out of hyperspace.

He hadn't been expecting to emerge here. "Well… home sweet home."

Tatooine was directly ahead, the one place that Luke had never wanted to return to. Just seeing the planet brought back the memories of the day he left, the day his life had completely changed. Every reason he had to stay here had been taken away from him, and so he had left without any hesitation. Yet now he was back here again, and tempted to just turn around and go somewhere else. That would not be practical at the moment, given the lack of fuel and minor repairs needed, and thus he would have to make a stop here before moving on again.

The X-Wing flew into the atmosphere, heading for one of the cracked mesas near the largest desert. Luke deliberately avoided landing in the likes of Mos Eisley and other spaceports, given the chaos and instability here in recent years. There was a plateau near familiar land, and Luke brought the X-Wing in for a landing there. It was a gentle landing this time, right in the middle of the plateau and with a good view of the surrounding landscape. Luke opened the cockpit, stretched his arms, and leapt out of the ship.

Setting foot on hard rock, Luke looked out at the barren wastes to the south, recognizing a remote station in the distance. "I never did get those power converters…"

Still in the X-Wing, R2-D2 made a long series of beeps.

"Stay with the ship," Luke said. He started walking away from the X-Wing. "If someone comes to steal it, fly away."

A single beep was R2-D2's confirmation.

Luke found a path down from the plateau, and quickly made his way to the bottom and moved on. From there he found a road and walked down it, taking a brisk pace as he headed toward civilization. He was grateful for the physical part of Yoda's training, for it made the walk far less tiring than it would have been when he lived here. It took an hour for him to make the journey, and it was over sooner than he realized. Luke stopped at the threshold of this ramshackle bunch of buildings, remembering the last time he had been to Tosche Station.

The place had barely changed, still being the same old cluster of buildings built around a power regulating station. They were all very utilitarian, built for a single purpose and nothing more, no cosmetic additions to speak of over the stone structures. People were still going about their business here, though the faces had changed over the last two years. Luke walked through the sparse crowds, feeling nostalgic about his old stomping grounds, absentmindedly making his way into the only place that passed for a club around here.

Luke walked over to the bar, making eye contact with the bartender. "Hey, get me something that won't leave me blind in the morning."

The bartender knew just the thing. "Coming right up."

Someone from behind recognized Luke's voice, and seemed to be in disbelief. "Skywalker?"

Luke turned around, saw a familiar face, and it was like he never left. "Fixer. Still hanging around this sand pile. How've you been?"

Short black hair slightly scruffier than normal, the young man held Luke by the shoulders. "How have I been? What about you? It was like you fell off the face of Tatooine! Everyone thought you got yourself killed!"

"Nope. I'm still kicking," Luke said. "I did leave Tatooine, that part wasn't wrong."

Fixer let go of Luke and took a moment to straighten his jacket, calming down after the initial surprise. "You are not going to believe the things you've missed. It's been nuts around here lately."

"So I'm told," Luke said. He noticed a new ring on Fixer's hand. You and Camie finally tied the knot."

With a big bold smile Fixer nodded. "She gave me that kick in the ass I needed to pop the question. I did, she said yes, and we couldn't be happier."

"Good to hear," Luke said. "I assume she is doing well."

"As well as anyone could be," Fixer answered. He wrapped one arm around Luke's shoulders, gently nudging him away from the bar. "There have been big opportunities since the Empire pulled out. That up and coming crime boss in Mos Eisley has been very good to us. Deacon's made sure she sends plenty of business our way."

"I'm surprised Deacon got involved that sort of thing," Luke said. "It sounds kind of bold for him."

"He changed when he heard you died," Fixer said. "He's been taking a lot more risks, and so far it's paid off. Windy's been looking after him, so hopefully it won't get too bad for them."

"Hope so," Luke said. He saw a shady looking fellow in one corner of the bar. "Do you know him?"

Fixer stopped, faced Luke proper, and smiled. "Got me again Skywalker."

"What's going on?" Luke asked.

"We just need a little help," Fixer said. "One of the smaller Hutts has been trying to muscle in here. The whole clan is trying to reclaim Jabba's empire. It might be too late for us to avoid a fight."

"One more person wouldn't help much," Luke said. Sure, he could do far more than just one person, but he didn't want to tell him that. "You'll need a lot more than that."

"I've tried to send word to Deacon and Windy, but it hasn't been getting through," Fixer said. "We wouldn't have a problem if we could get a hold of them."

"I'll take care of it," Luke offered. "Mos Eisley right? That's where they went?"

"Yeah," Fixer said. "Thanks man, this means everything to me."

"No problem," Luke said. "I'll be there and back before you know it."


	33. Rough Times

Chapter 33: Rough Times

On a speeder bike loaned from Fixer, Luke left Tosche Station and sped down the road to Mos Eisley. It reminded him of the last time he travelled to that spaceport, when he had a mentor and two droids with him in that old rustbucket of his. It seemed like somebody else's life, far simpler than the life he was living now. Still, Luke made sure to stop at the same ridge Kenobi had them stop back then, just to see the spaceport from afar to understand the scope and scale of the place. Luke drove up to that spot and parked the bike, taking a moment to see how Mos Eisley had changed.

For one, it had grown to twice the size it had been before, with an urban sprawl spilling out into the desert. There were ships coming and going all over the place, far more than there had been before. People and goods were moving in and out of the spaceport, both by ships and by land, lubricating a growing economy in what used to be a hive of scum and villainy. To the untrained eye it actually looked quite respectable now, a place where people could thrive without fear of being gunned down in the streets, by criminals and imperials alike.

Of course, appearances are often deceiving.

Luke saw that for himself when he drove into Mos Eisley, getting to see the place up close. The streets were filled with people busily going about their day, all trying to make the most of new opportunities, but making sure not to step out of line. On every corner were armed men and women standing guard, watching everyone passing through their part of the spaceport, a constant reminder of who was in charge around here. Luke kept his head down, avoided unnecessary attention, and made his way deeper into the spaceport.

He almost made it to the first landing area when the street was cut off by barricades, and Luke had to park the bike and pay someone to look after it. From there he walked through crowded sidewalks, slipping through unnoticed into the busiest part of the spaceport. He peeked into the first of many landing areas, seeing people working to unload a cargo ship before loading new cargo, and plenty of coin being passed to speed things along. It was certainly a good time to be a dockworker, and he could see officials attempting to persuade workers to switch companies with increasing pay.

Several city blocks further in, Luke was stopped by a pair of muscular men guarding entrance to a narrow street. "Identification please."

Luke made eye contact, focused on a little trick he had learned, and subtly waved a hand from one man to the other. "You don't need to see my identification."

One man looked to the other. "We don't need to see his identification."

Luke waved his hand again. "I am free to go about my business."

This time the other man nodded. "Go about your business."

"Move along," Luke said.

"Move along," the first man repeated.

The men stepped aside and let Luke through, completely unaware of what he did to them. Even now, when Luke knew how to do it, it still amazed him how the Force could influence the weak minded. It got him into a more militarized district of Mos Eisley, everyone here carrying some kind of weapon, like they were part of someone's personal army. Many of them did look at Luke, assumed he must have been invited to get through the checkpoint, and did not bother him further. Luke found his way to the seat of power here, stopping near the entrance to get a feel for the place.

It used to be the largest of the landing areas, now converted into an impressive fortress. The upper levels looked over the rest of Mos Eisley, tall spires in the corners filled with sentries, their presence keeping order in what was a lawless place. There were massive turrets on the spires, some aimed up, some aimed down, prepared for threats from every direction. Guards stood at the entrance to the fortress, wearing armor reminiscent of stormtroopers but painted dark red, with a splash of blue in the shape of a burning flame.

"She's been busy," Luke commented. The guards were eyeing him, and only that while he kept his distance. But then he noticed someone approaching the guards, someone he recognized. "Windy!"

Hearing his name, the young man turned toward the voice he thought he would never hear again. "Luke? Is that you?"

They met right in front of the guards, and Luke shook Windy's hand, looking into the smooth face framed by short black hair. "I was hoping I would run into you."

"You come back from the dead, and I'm the one you want to find?" Windy questioned. He laughed and shook Luke's hand. "It's good to see you. Where have you been all this time?"

"Off world," Luke answered. "I came back as soon as I could."

"You big liar," Windy said. He lightly punched Luke's shoulder. "Still, good to have you back."

Luke nodded. "We've got a lot to talk about."

* * *

Talking was really all anyone could do in Cloud City for a while.

Steadily descending deeper and deeper into the gas giant Bespin, the city maintained minimal power output to avoid detection from space. No one was allowed to use vehicles or operate heavy machinery of any kind, and all wireless communication was silenced. Sensors based in the city were shut down completely, and most off world sensors ceased communicating with the city. Anything that could reveal the presence of a city here was deactivated, and it would stay that way for as long as the imperial scouts remained in the system.

Finding ways to pass the time proved surprisingly difficult, the stress of wondering if the imperials would find them making it hard to concentrate. They tried to make do with various games and gambling, but no one was in a playful mood sitting in darkness. Even the most basic of physical pleasures weren't satisfying or distracting enough, the mind always turning back to the threat over their heads. The fear of discovery and subsequent attack was driving people mad one by one, all wishing that it would be over right now.

Standing outside the command center, feeling heavy under the weight of increasing atmospheric pressure, Aang felt the need to do something. "I'm going up there."

Having followed him out here, Han wanted this foolish endeavor to actually be productive. "Hang on a second. Take this up there with you."

He handed over a set of high tech binoculars, complete with a recorder, and Aang accepted it. "I won't be up there very long."

With the binoculars in one hand and his staff in the other, Aang was ready to leap into the sky and fly into the heavens. He unfolded his staff into his glider, crouched while summoning the wind, and shot upward with the force of a hurricane. Swirling winds knocked Han off his feet and threw him into a wall, and he looked up just in time to see Aang disappear into dark clouds. Even Aang was surprised by his newfound speed, the wind pushing him along faster than ever before, his glider barely able to handle the stress of so much air pressure beneath the wood and fabric.

Flying straight up Aang passed through the thick clouds of Bespin, still amazed that he could breathe on a world like this, told that it was a rare feature on gas giants. Flying through these clouds was certainly different, instead of getting soaked by water vapor he hit a strong stink instead, a sign of the gas mined by the city. The stink vanished at the top of the cloud, and Aang emerged into a clear evening sky. He kept going higher anyway, far above the normal altitude Cloud City would be, wondering just how far he could push extra powerful airbending.

The reddish-orange sky of Bespin started to fade to black when it became difficult to breath, approaching the edge of the planet's immense atmosphere. Aang collected the nearby air and made it condense around him, forming a bubble of comfortable air pressure, where he could hover at the apex of his ascent. There he could look through the binoculars and see all the way into space, getting a clear view up to high orbit. It did not take long for him to spot something moving, and he adjusted the focus to magnify what he saw.

"Uh Oh…" Aang muttered, not liking what he saw. "That's not going away."

In perfect view was a Star Destroyer, just now settling into low orbit around Bespin, all alone in this remote part of space. It was approaching this part of the planet, and it would be overhead within the hour. Aang dispersed his pocket of air and let himself fall, diving headfirst through the atmosphere, picking up considerable speed from gravity's pull alone. He folded up his glider and held his staff close to his chest, summoning the wind to increase his speed, accelerating without destroying the glider in the process.

Aang dived through the clouds and made his way back down to Cloud City's current altitude, somewhat lower than when he left, and a few miles east of him. Reversing the wind slowed him down to a safe speed, allowing him to unfold his glider without destroying it, and change course to head for the city. It took a couple minutes for him to get back there, and a few moments to find his way back to the building with the command center. His arrival was announced with a massive gale of wind, blowing people off their feet, scattering them away from his landing.

Folding up his glider, Aang saw everyone on their backs. "Whoops. Sorry about that."

First to get up was Katara, having come outside with Lando and Chewbacca, and being the only one here prepared for airbending. "Never mind that. Did you see anything up there?"

"Yeah, I did," Aang answered. He saw Han get up again, more than a little annoyed about being knocked over twice. "There's a Star Destroyer up there. I only saw one, but it's getting closer."

"Which means there's probably more on the way," Han said. He dusted off his clothes and helped Lando get up. "Are you prepared for when they find us?"

"If you mean fight them off, no," Lando admitted. He opened the door to let them all get inside. "This is a smuggler haven not a battle station. We could barely hold off a squadron of TIE Fighters let alone a Star Destroyer."

Katara was close behind the men as they entered the building. "You must have something planned."

"Yeah, what I always to when I'm dealt a bad hand," Lando said. The door closed after everyone was inside, and the lights in the halls came on. "Bluff."

* * *

Inside the fortress within the spaceport, Luke got to see the new power structure at work. Sure he had seen the reports about the new crime boss on Tatooine, but it was another thing to actually see it. Military style command and protocol had been implemented here, stark contrast to the informal style preferred by the Hutts. Formal uniforms were everywhere, the people wearing them moving about with great purpose, hard at work managing a growing criminal enterprise. Everyone took a glance at Luke and Windy as they walked through the halls, wondering why he had brought someone new here.

In the most secure part of the place was a large office, and inside Luke saw the new boss herself. "You must be the Azula I've heard so much about."

Now just short of seventeen, Azula had grown quite a bit since leaving Earth. Now standing just under Luke's height, she stood with all the regal grace of a crowned monarch. It wasn't the throne she wanted all her life, but one of her own making. The armor she preferred had become ill-fitting now, and so she had integrated it into something tailored for her. It looked like a simple red and black suit, just thicker around the upper torso and with shoulder pads. Unlike everyone else in this fortress she wasn't armed, for she didn't need a weapon here.

Azula looked him in the eye, studying him and finally having a face to put to a name. "About time we got to meet, Skywalker. I'm told you are quite the celebrity in the rebel alliance."

Windy looked back and forth between Luke and Azula. "Wait… you're with the rebels?"

"I was going to tell you," Luke said. "I just needed the right way to say it."

"Could you leave us be," Azula insised.

There was no refusing what Azula wanted, and Windy made a respectful salute. "Yes Ma'am."

Luke watched him leave and close the door behind him, and then he turned back toward Azula. "I really appreciate you letting me come in to see you."

"Anything for a close partner," Azula said. She held up her hand and examined her fingernails. "Now what can I do for the rebels? I presume there is something you need my people to get for you."

"Actually, I'm here for my own reasons," Luke said. He noticed a slight twinge of surprise. "A friend of mine needs help over at Tosche Station. One of the Hutts is moving in on that place."

"Tosche Station," Azula muttered. She took a look at several papers on her desk, stopping when she found the right one. "Right, that power station out in the middle of nowhere. I was going to let that Hutt have it for now, I've got other territory to claim. I'd rather not spread my forces too thin over something I don't really need."

"Then consider it a favor to me," Luke said. He didn't dare use the Force on her, suspecting that the trick would not work on someone like her, and not willing to breach her trust on something like this. "You can be sure that I will repay it."

"I would rather not wait to call in a favor," Azula said. She looked over the paper in closer detail, calculating alternative scenarios for dealing with the situation. "If this station is really that important to you, I'll provide the men if you lead the charge."

"You know, that's reasonable," Luke said. He crossed his arms and smiled. "I'll do it."

* * *

Cloud City stopped its descent into Bespin, starting its ascent back up to its normal altitude.

The Star Destroyer parked in low orbit directly above the city, clearly knowing where it was despite the thick cloud cover. TIE Fighters were flying into the atmosphere, escorting several shuttles on their way down. Knowing that they had been detected, Lando ordered all systems be brought back online. He tried to make it seem like this was part of normal operations, even if it was patently obvious they had been trying to hide from the Empire. It was going to be difficult to BS his way out of this, Lando was certain of that.

The _Millennium Falcon_ was in the air, fully refueled and somewhat repaired, flying around the edge of the city and going underneath it. Chewbacca was in the cockpit flying the ship, expertly keeping it just barely beneath the base of the city. With any luck it would be hidden within the city's shadow, its emissions mixed with those of the city, virtually indistinguishable to sensors. Of course it wouldn't fool anyone looking at the city from below, but hopefully no one would think to fly that low. Chewbacca was the only one Han trusted to pull it off, hence why it was only the wookie inside the _Falcon_.

Everyone else remained in the command center, waiting for the arrival of the imperial shuttles. Lando was giving orders left and right, making accommodations for whoever would be on the shuttles. Han was watching everything he did, offering advice when he had something to say, and otherwise letting Lando handle this. Aang and Katara simply watched and kept their mouths shut, not having anything meaningful to say, hoping that it would be over quickly. That did not seem to be the case, given Lando's frantic and worried movements.

"Here they come," Lando said, seeing a visual of the shuttles on a monitor. "It's time to send out the welcoming committee."

Lando and his administrative staff left the command center, heading out to one of the landing pads outside, the same one the _Falcon_ had used. Three imperial shuttles came in for a landing, touching down just as the building's doors opened. Each shuttle had a dozen stormtroopers inside, all of them marching out and into a circle formation around the shuttles, guarding them from every direction. Imperial officers came out next, eyes forward and focused on Lando and his group, meeting at the edge of the landing pad.

"Welcome," Lando said. He put his hands together and smiled. "I'm amazed you decided to come all the way out here just for our humble mining facility. How may we service the Empire?"

Behind the officers was Admiral Ozzel, already displeased at being assigned to this errand by the Grand Admiral, and not in the mood for pleasantries. "Come now Administrator, you know full well why I'm here. Turn over the rebels you are harboring and we can go back to pretending your little operation doesn't exist."

"Now why would I harboring those scum?" Lando asked.

"Don't play coy with me," Ozzel ordered. He crossed his arms and glared at Lando. "The rebel base was your next door neighbor, and you didn't make arrangements with them? I think not. They are here, and we will find them whether or not you comply. If you do not comply we will shut you down right now."

"When you put it that way…" Lando said. He turned around and led the imperials across the bridge. "Right this way."

* * *

When Luke finally returned to Tosche Station, the place had become a warzone.

A force of semi-organized thugs had come to claim it, threatening the use of force if the inhabitants did not submit, and made good on their threat. Violence broke out from the northern side, and it quickly spread through every part of the station. Every building was fought for with their lives, the defenders forcing the thugs to pay dearly for every single one. Blaster bolts were flying everywhere, thermal detonators going off all over the place, and many screams blended into one another. Neither side relented the slightest bit, and bodies fell by the score.

To make matters even worse, the noise had drawn the attention of tusken raiders. Allured by the possibility of an easy raid, the sand people swooped in while both sides of the fight were busy, ambushing them and indiscriminately killing everyone they could reach. Their angle of attack put the brunt of the casualties on the thugs' side, killing two of them for every defender, and losing plenty of their own in the process. Bodies were falling everywhere in Tosche Station, and the massacre was only just beginning.

Firing a blaster from behind his home, Fixer didn't see a way out of this. But then he heard engines on approach, this time from behind his position. "What now?"

That was the moment Luke returned, riding the speeder bike Fixer had loaned him, accompanied by several dozen other vehicles loaded with soldiers. They drove straight into Tosche Station and opened fire, targeting the tusken raiders first, easiest to pick out amidst the chaos. While shooting them Luke's forces identified the thugs and starting shooting them too, taking care not to shoot at the defenders of the station. Luke jumped off the bike, did a flip in the air, turning on his lightsaber as he came down in the middle of the thugs, slicing them apart in a mere moment.

Putting new skills with the lightsaber to work, Luke slaughtered his way through thugs and tusken raiders alike. Blaster bolts were reflected off the lightsaber blade, sent where Luke needed them to go, surprising enemies just before they died. Every swing of the lightsaber either cut down someone or deflected a blaster bolt, either way slaying an enemy. All around Luke bodies fell, and more were struck down by the soldiers brought with him. They took back the station faster than it had been lost, quickly turning the tide.

The tusken raiders fled from the station, realizing the seemingly easy raid had been a fool's errand, leaving with all the men they still had. The thugs remained and tried to continue the fight, under orders to not surrender or retreat, for the Hutt would kill them anyway for failure. Once the raiders were gone Luke and the soldiers finished off the thugs, wiping them out to the last man. They made sure there weren't any thugs just pretending to be dead, and once the all clear signal was given everyone put away their weapons.

Luke shut off his lightsaber and put it away, then turned around to face what was left of Tosche Station. "Is anyone still alive here?"

Sure enough, Fixer came out from his cover, surprised by what he had just witnessed. "Luke… what was all of that?"

He glanced down at his lightsaber, and Luke walked over to Fixer. "I've been through a lot since I left. I'll tell you all about it when we've cleaned up here."

The soldiers returned to their vehicles and started unloading them, hauling crates of medical supplies into the station. They sifted through all the bodies to find survivors, treated the wounds they had to the best of their ability, making sure that they would continue to live. They also brought some extra food and repair kits, to help the people in better shape get back on their feet. Then there was the task of clearing away the dead, with the bodies of the defenders identified and set aside, the thugs and raiders thrown into a pit for a mass grave.

Back in the bar, which now had a large hole in the wall, Luke tossed Fixer the keys to the speeder bike. "I'm sorry it took so long. I really thought I would be back sooner this time."

"At least you came through," Fixer said. While it was a relief, he was still concerned about what he had seen. "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"It's a long story," Luke said. He looked through the hole in the wall, saw the soldiers at work getting this place back up and running, figuring that he had plenty of time. "You may want to sit down…"

* * *

It was tricky business hiding Han and the others during an imperial search.

Lando permitted the imperials full access to the city, and more transports delivered additional stormtroopers for the task. They systematically searched every building from top to bottom, going through every level and checking every room, using every trick they had for finding hiding places. Hundreds of stormtroopers coordinated by dozens of officers thoroughly searched Cloud City, commandeering the resources and facilities here, using Lando's own security systems to speed up the process.

None of the usual smuggler holes were going to hold up, not for the entire search anyway. Lando's men had Han and the others move from one spot to another, keeping ahead of the searching stormtroopers. Care was taken to avoid the security cameras and motion sensors, as Lando's men knew exactly where they were positioned. Once enough of the city had been searched they were led through one of many secret paths, bringing them back to the sections already searched, hoping that the stormtroopers wouldn't check it twice.

In one of many small rooms, Han waited for the next time they would need to move. "We can't do this forever. When they don't find us they will just search the whole thing again. And if that doesn't work they can just shoot down this entire city."

There's got to be something we can do," Katara said. She was leaning her back again a wall, looking at one of the doors out of here. "If hiding isn't going to work, we've got to try something else."

"It would help if we could do something else," Han said. "In case you haven't noticed, we don't have anything we can use. Not against a Star Destroyer."

Sitting in a chair right now, Aang raised his head up. "Actually, yes we do. At least, if I understand things right, it just might work."

Han shrugged and took a few steps toward Aang. "What do you have in mind?"

The idea was a crazy one, but it was the only one they had. Lando's men escorted them out of the room and through another secret path, avoiding stormtroopers searching the area again, making their way up to the top of the building. They exited through a rooftop access, coming out into the winds that blew over Cloud City. From there they could see some of the shuttles on the landing pads, as well as all the TIE Fighters swarming around the place. And high above the city was the Star Destroyer, hovering there in the upper atmosphere.

"Be careful up there," Katara said.

"Try not to get shot," Han said.

Aang nodded to them, his staff in hand. "I'll try."

He unfolded his glider and leapt into the air on the wind, summoning a gale that slammed into Han and Katara while lifting Aang upward. They had braced themselves and didn't get knocked over this time, and they got to see Aang disappear in heavens. Aang flew straight up into the sky of Bespin again, seeing the Star Destroyer grow bigger and bigger, feeling like a small speck underneath it. He flew through clouds wherever he could, staying out of sight as much as possible, putting up with the stink until he reached the proper altitude.

Parked at the halfway point between Cloud City and open space, the Star Destroyer had its ventral thrusters on a low but constant burn to maintain position. Aang stopped near the main engines, folded up his glider and spun his staff around, summoning the wind around himself. A cyclone formed underneath the Star Destroyer, disrupting the thruster burn, and creating a suction pulling on the massive ship. The rear end of the ship fell into the cyclone, tipping the entire ship backward, knocking everyone inside off their feet and hurling them toward the rear end of the ship.

Bridge crew recovered quickly and responded to the sudden turbulence, igniting the main engines to counter the downward pull and ascend instead. Aang saw the burn and discovered a potential vulnerability, if what he understood about this planet was correct. He flew over to the nearest large cloud, used airbending to compress the strange gas inside, and hurled the denser cloud at the Star Destroyer. It struck the engines and ignited, exploding into a massive inferno, burning into every exposed part of the engines.

Heat and flames scorched the engines and inflicted considerable damage, forcing the engines to shut down and avoid further damage. Thrusters burned even harder to compensate, yet the Star Destroyer continued to fall with the rear end first. Aang flew around the ship to get above it, and he landed on the top of the ship's command tower. There he could see the front end pointing up into the sky, taking in the full scale of what he was trying to do. He folded up his glider again, focused on the power within, bringing it out for his greatest feat of airbending yet.

Aang's eyes and tattoos glowed bright blue, the power of the Avatar State flowing through him. Combined with the power boost to airbending here, Aang twirled his staff to summon the force of a hurricane. Massive winds battered the Star Destroyer on all sides, pushing against the hull in a counterclockwise motion, spinning the ship round and round faster and faster. The higher winds came together in a twister above the Star Destroyer, came down on the command tower, slamming hard enough to tip the ship over most of the way.

Flying away from the ship, its front end now pointed straight up, Aang moved to a better position. Above the Star Destroyer now, he stung his staff down, hurling the wind into the bottom hull. That large blow tipped the ship all the way over, making down become up and up become down inside, flipping the crew over to fall on the ceiling. The ventral thrusters were still burning, and now they sent the ship down instead of up, and the Star Destroyer fell from the sky. During the fall it drifted away from Cloud City, just barely missing the edge of the flying city, falling into the clouds of Bespin.

Exiting the Avatar State, Aang watched the Star Destroyer fall. "There it goes…"

Thrusters at full burn to in a twisting direction, the Star Destroyer tried to flip back over. It was halfway over when it plunged into thick clouds, vanishing into the brown abyss, before the thrusters ignited the cloud and it burst into flames. The entire cloud burned in just a few seconds, scorched every surface of the Star Destroyer, and destroyed the thrusters entirely. The blackened husk of a Star Destroyer fell even further, disappearing into the next cloud layer below, plunging into the depths of Bespin to be crushed by increasing atmospheric pressure.

A minute later Aang landed in the city, right next to Han and Katara staring at where they saw the Star Destroyer fall. "Who else is surprised that actually worked?"

* * *

It had been good to catch up with a friend at Tosche Station, but it was time to leave again.

Luke had told Fixer everything that happened, including the part about him joining the rebel alliance. He didn't agree with it, but understood it nevertheless. Luke couldn't stay here, not after everything, but could at least say goodbye this time. Once everything was stable in Tosche Station, under the protection of Azula's growing organization, Luke made his goodbye and left the place for good. They weren't going to get back the friendship they used to have, not when Luke had to walk a different path in life.

Back at his X-Wing, Luke climbed into the cockpit and strapped himself in. "Anything fun happen R2?"

The droid made a few beeps.

"Thought so," Luke said. "Well, no news is good news. Let's get out of here and get back to the fleet."

A longer series of beeps and whistles came from the droid.

"We'll be fine," Luke reassured. "There are plenty of rendezvous points to try. We'll find the right one sooner or later."


	34. The Long Game

Chapter 34: The Long Game

When Darth Vader received the reports on the attack on the rebel base, he wasn't very surprised.

The rebels had proven to be quite resilient, exploiting every opportunity they had to survive. It seemed like no matter how many of them died, more would always take their place. The Force was strong with the rebellion, even if the Jedi were long gone. At best there were only two Force sensitive among them, and only one he suspected was actively developing his talents. Darth Vader had yet to meet this particular rebel in person, but had felt his presence from time to time. He had his suspicions on where this one had come from, yet couldn't be certain about it.

Darth Vader knew he would have to deal with the rebels soon, that much was certain by this point. It was also clear that stormtroopers and military hardware were not going to be enough, given their repeated failures to stamp out the rebellion. Continuing to wage this war the same as always was only going to produce further failures, and alternative tactics were going to be required to make a difference. Specialized henchmen would be needed, with unconventional methods for fighting an unconventional war.

To that end he traveled to Coruscant, arriving unannounced and in the middle of the night. It was like changing one set of stars for another, the brilliants lights of the planetwide metropolis forming their own constellations. His specialized TIE Fighter descended into the brightly lit cityscape, heading down toward the capital. It wasn't noticed by the people below, lost amidst all the other traffic above the planet, too small to be seen by the naked eye for most of the descent. It only took a few minutes to descend from space to low altitude, right on top of his destination.

It was a specialized research and development/prison complex, maximum security and built to withstand anything short of orbital bombardment. Darth Vader sent his authorization codes, and a landing pad was quickly cleared for his use. He could imagine the staff scrambling to prepare for his last minute arrival, though he didn't care much for appearances. The large doors opened for him, he passed through several corridors with all sorts of security measures, ignoring the checkpoints that let him through without hesitation.

When he reached a main hall the head administrator greeted him. "To what do we owe the pleasure, my Lord?"

Darth Vader didn't bother to slow his pace. "Go about your business. I will not be here long."

The administrator nodded and stood aside. "As you command."

Staff members and security guards quickly got out of the way, and Darth Vader walked through the complex with nothing slowing him down. He soon arrived at a special section, holding prisoners with supernatural abilities, in particular the ones shipped over from Earth. Researchers continued to experiment on these benders, the ongoing effort to reverse engineer their abilities, continuing to meet failure after failure. Those researchers were terrified when they saw Darth Vader, knowing the usual punishment for a lack of results.

He stopped at one particular cell, opened the door and walked inside, seeing the broken man kept here. "If only you had cooperated when we first met, you would not be in this sorry state."

The former leader of Earth's Dai Li, paltry in comparison to the Empire's secret police, Long Feng was slouched in the corner and barely moving. He had long since given up any pretense of authority or respect, letting his physical appearance deteriorate since his capture, becoming a shell of the man he used to be. His hair had grown out long and shaggy, a beard had formed and had a few streaks of grey in it. He had lost a considerable amount of weight and muscle mass, the result of giving up on life and waiting for the end.

Long Feng looked up at Darth Vader, and looked back down at his feet. "What do you want?"

"I am in a forgiving mood," Vader said. "I am willing to give you another chance to serve the Empire."

"Why should I believe you?" Long Feng asked, his voice barely louder than a whisper.

"You do not have a choice," Vader said. "Your existence is meaningless here. I can give you purpose again. You can truly live a life worth living. All you have to do is submit to my will."

Thinking back on all the experiments done to him over the last year, from the mundane to the very painful, Long Feng had become truly desperate. "What would you have me do?"

There was honesty in that question, enough for Darth Vader to know that Long Feng was truly submitting to his will. "There is a task I believe you are suited for."

It did not take long for Long Feng to understand what was needed of him, and could take solace in the fact that it would be taking him off Coruscant. When he was finished Darth Vader did not need to remain there any longer, as he had other matters to attend to in this facility. He left the cell and moved to a different part of the facility, where the more noncompliant prisoners were kept and experimented on. His next recruit was in the middle of one such experiment, according to the computer that monitored activity in this facility.

Darth Vader entered one of many laboratories on the lower levels, containing a special harness in the center rigged to various kinds of equipment. It currently had a subject strapped in for a test, today's experiment involving exposure to electricity in a variety of voltages. Of all the subjects taken from Earth, this one was unique in his ability to conjure lightning from nothing. Darth Vader waited for the experiment to be completed, listening to the painful screams from the subject as the experiment continued on for a few more minutes.

The experiment came to an end, observations were recorded, yet still there were no meaningful results. Darth Vader approached the harness, dismissing the staff along the way. "Leave us."

All of the researchers quickly vacated the area, leaving Darth Vader alone with the prisoner. He used the Force to flip a few switches, activating a mechanism to open the harness and let the prisoner out. Metal bars spread apart around the prisoner, exposing his pale skin and long unkempt hair, complete with a beard that reached halfway down his chest. He fell forward and slammed into the floor, weary from the experiment that left him twitching from electric shock. He struggled to get up, only getting onto his hands and knees, a deplorable state for a deposed leader of a primitive world's nation.

Ozai looked up at Darth Vader, wishing he still had the strength to fight. "Are you here to finish me? Just get it over with already."

Tempting that may be, Darth Vader did not simply kill him. "Are you really so eager for death?"

"Living has become nothing but suffering," Ozai said. He clenched his fists, and heat warped the air around them. "Your people have seen fit to torture me in every possible way."

"Or so you think," Vader said. He reached toward Ozai, fingers slowly tightening, and an invisible grip clenched Ozai's throat. "Remember, there are always new frontiers for pain and suffering."

Unable to breathe, Ozai collapsed on the floor, struggling in vain to get fresh air in his lungs. One hand instinctively went to his throat, trying to pull away whatever was strangling him, gripping at nothing but air. Vision quickly fading to black, Ozai struggled to no avail. Then the grip on his throat vanished, air rushed into his lungs, gasping as life came back into him. Seeing clearly again, though woozy from nearly passing out, Ozai looked up at Darth Vader. There was newfound hate in his eyes, and a reason to keep on living.

"What do you want?" Ozai demanded.

"I see potential in you as an enforcer," Vader answered. He held up a hand and curled his fingers, imagining the power of Force Lightning, only known by less than a handful of people. "You have a skill set that is very rare. I wish to put it to better use than in this laboratory."

"After all of this, you expect me to help you?" Ozai questioned.

"Hate can be a powerful motivator," Vader said. "Make no mistake, I will be keeping a close eye on you. One step out of line, and you will know suffering like nothing you could possibly imagine."

* * *

Without a base of operations, the rebel alliance needed to be mobile.

The transports that successfully escaped Hoth flew through a series of rendezvous points, taking circuitous routes to evade pursuit, eventually joining the fleet at the edge of the galaxy. _Home One_ was the command ship at the moment, being the most powerful of the ships currently present, and thus the leaders of the rebellion came aboard to deal with the current crisis. They gathered in a meeting room near _Home One_ 's bridge, the room surrounded by security and the ship on high alert, just in case something happened while they were all here.

Leia stood next to a large round table, looking at the other leaders on her left and her right, eyes meeting Mon Mothma directly across. "This is not the time to attack and you know it."

"This opportunity will not last long," Mon Mothma argued. "Most of the Empire's forces are committed away from the Core. If we strike now their defenses will be at their weakest. We can inflict a major blow before their fleets are ready to counter us."

On Leia's left was Admiral Ackbar, looking over reports on the fleet's readiness. "We just took a major blow ourselves. Attacking now would risk everything we have. We should focus on rebuilding our strength and constructing a new base."

"The Empire will grind us into dust long before you think we are ready," Mon Mothma said. "We can't afford to let opportunities pass us by. Fighting defensively is what got us into this mess. An assault on the Empire is long overdue."

"I concur," General Dodonna said, standing across from the admiral. His elderly face was considerably more wrinkled than it had been since Yavin 4, and he knew some in the rebellion believed he should step down due to his age. "It will take another year to build another base. We do not have the time."

Leia voiced her displeasure with a loud groan, and she put both hands on the table. "Do you even have a target in mind? If you're going to risk all of our forces there had better be a big payoff."

"Several actually," Mon Mothma said. She passed a data pad across the table, letting Leia take a look at it. "Our bothan friends are already looking into all of them. Once they've confirmed these are real we can pick one and hit the Empire there."

"We cannot make such a decision lightly," Ackbar advised. "I would not put it past the Empire to manufacture opportunities for us to take just to lure us into a trap."

"That's what the bothan spies are for," Mon Mothma argued. "They haven't let us down yet. Their intel has always been reliable."

"If obtained through questionable means," Leia added. "If that's all, we have other things to do."

The meeting was adjourned, and the four of them went their separate ways. Leia passed through the bridge on her way to another part of the ship, eyeing the crew at work coordinating the fleet, saying nothing as she passed them by. She made her way to her quarters, going inside and locking the door behind her. There was a computer terminal inside, and she accessed the latest reports of fleet activity. She checked the list of ships that had rendezvous with the fleet, specifically the ones that had been at Hoth, wanting to know who had made it here.

It was disappointing to discover that the _Millennium Falcon_ wasn't on the list. There wasn't even an offhand mention of it in the system, no sign that anyone knew what had happened to it. Still, she had a gut feeling that the _Falcon_ was still out there, just delayed for any number of reasons, the most likely being a malfunctioning hyperdrive. Han had a habit of getting himself in and out of bad situations, somehow always finding a way to beat the odds. This just happened to be a bigger bad situation that the usual, yet Leia still believed he would pull through.

* * *

In the space above Coruscant, the _Executor_ emerged from hyperspace.

Although anyone with a view of the sky could see it appear, there was barely any reaction amongst the general populace. It was something that happened on a semi-regular basis, becoming more common as more Super Star Destroyers were being built, a few still in dry dock over the planet. The _Executor_ entered orbit directly over the capital, maintaining geosynchronous position directly above the palace. There it would be yet another symbol of the Emperor's power, until it would need to be deployed elsewhere and bring its wrath down on the Empire's enemies.

Grand Admiral Thrawn was not pleased about being summoned back here, especially at a time like this. Death Squadron was still in the middle of hunting down the rebels that fled from Hoth, and one of the Star Destroyers was taking far too long to report back. Investigating the fate of the _Stormhawk_ would have to wait, all because Darth Vader would not be kept waiting. For protocol's sake Thrawn took a shuttle down to the capital, coming in for a landing on the top of the palace, still convinced that this would be a waste of his time.

From the landing pad Thrawn went inside the palace, heading straight to an ornate meeting room, entering at the same time as Darth Vader. "There had better be a good reason for calling me back here. I was in the middle of chasing down the rebels across the galaxy."

"The Emperor wishes for your consul," Vader said. Even though his mask couldn't convey emotion, it was clear that he was not happy about that fact. "He believes your insight will be most helpful in these early phases of construction."

Well aware of what Vader was referring to, Thrawn resigned himself to his business here. "Very well. If you will excuse me, I will not keep the Emperor waiting."

Thrawn left the meeting room and went deeper into the palace, not knowing and not caring where Darth Vader went. Dark hallways greeted Thrawn as he walked, paths rarely traveled by the staff, a passage taken only by those personally invited to meet the Emperor. He had to stop at a set of thick doors, guarded by those strange sentries in red uniforms, never seen far from the Emperor's presence. They opened the doors for Thrawn and let him pass, the silent understanding that they would be watching him.

Inside the next room, nearly as dark as the blackest void, Thrawn saw a simple throne in the single spot of light. "You summoned me, my Lord?"

Sitting in the throne, wearing his usual black robe, Emperor Palpatine gestured for Thrawn to approach. "I did." He moved a hand in a strange way, and a hologram appeared between them. "What would you recommend for protecting this battle station?"

The hologram displayed the current progress of the construction, completed sections in green, parts in progress in yellow, areas not even begun yet in red. The latter color dominated the rest, surrounding the others in this large sphere. Beneath the sphere was a floor of blue, representing a large moon that this construction project was in orbit around. Various kinds of information were shown around the hologram, all the little details regarding construction progress, summarized reports about nearby space, everything one would need to know about this new Death Star.

"Progress seems to be accelerating," Thrawn noted. His eye was drawn to the defenses placed to protect this incomplete battle station, particularly the ground based shield generator. "I still recommend a scorched earth policy around the generator. Make sure that it cannot be destroyed."

"If defense was the point, that would be done," the Emperor said. "The rebels need to believe that it is possible to succeed."

"Given their recent acquisition of supernatural talents, there is greater risk of that happening," Thrawn said. "When the time comes to lure in the rebels, at least employ your own special forces to counter theirs. I'm sure Vader would be most effective there."

"Perhaps not," the Emperor said. "He has been rather… distracted, as of late. I do not want him anywhere near this Death Star."

That was an intriguing insight, but Thrawn knew better than to pry about it. "In that case…"

* * *

Once again, Darth Vader walked through the bridge of the _Executor_.

The bridge crew had not missed his presence, easily preferring to be under the command of Thrawn instead of Vader. He didn't care about their opinions of him, as long as they obeyed his orders and got the job done. They anticipated his desire to get underway, as he usually did when he took personal command of this ship, and were nearly ready to depart when he got to his usual spot to look out the windows. All he needed to do was give the order, and within moments the _Executor_ was leaving orbit and plotting a hyperspace jump.

At a station on the bridge Vader checked the status of the ship, particularly the assets brought aboard ahead of his arrival. They were all in their assigned locations, nearly ready to be put to use, and under secure lock and key. Very few people got to know that they were here, and fewer still knew the details about them. None of them cared about the matter in the slightest, and they wouldn't have questioned Vader's orders anyway. All that mattered was that they obeyed him, and everything he wanted was aboard the ship.

The _Executor_ finally found its vector and made the jump to hyperspace, and they were finally underway across the galaxy. Vader left the bridge and passed through the ship, using turbolifts where he could to quickly move through the massive vessel, making his way to the cargo hold. There were guards keeping watch when he arrived, and they left when he passed through the doors and went inside. They weren't needed while he was there, and Vader didn't want any unnecessary prying eyes. It was dark inside the cargo hold, until Vader used the Force to turn on the lights.

Vader looked over the assets brought aboard, lacking their respective abilities in the void of hyperspace. "I trust you are all doing well."

Living in the barest accommodations, the benders brought aboard were powerless at the moment. None of them were chained down, for the more obvious methods of imprisonment were no longer needed. It was fortunate that they didn't have their abilities here, for there was an animosity between them that Vader hadn't accounted for. Ozai and Long Feng did not enjoy each other's company, the kind of bitterness that only came from former enemies brought together by circumstance, ready to return to their old ways should the opportunity arise.

Long Feng turned toward Vader, the scowl plain for all to see. "Is this some kind of sick joke?"

"I assure you, this is no joke," Vader said. He turned to look at Ozai, also scowling at him. "Whatever history you two have, settle it here or work despite it. I will not have you getting in each other's way."

Ozai wanted to shoot lightning up Vader where the stars don't shine, despite the current lack of that ability. "Surely, you don't need both of us in the same place. Surely you have different tasks in mind."

"Perhaps," Vader said. Only now did he notice something peculiar about Ozai, something in the voice that he just couldn't place. "Plans are ever changing. I may need you to work together sometime."

Grumbling something under his breath, Long Feng looked away from both of them.

"I do not expect you to like it," Vader said. He turned to the left, about to leave this part of this. "All I expect is for you to obey without question. Do so, and you get to live. It is that simple."

* * *

Right when she was about to fall asleep Leia received the news, and it had her wide awake in an instant.

The _Millennium Falcon_ had finally arrived.

Right away she sent an order to direct the _Falcon_ to the hangar of _Home One_ , though she made sure the operator wouldn't mention that she personally gave that order. Leia got dressed and left her quarters, keeping to a casual pace to make it seem like she wasn't in a hurry. She reached the hangar just in time to see the Falcon come in for a landing, taking one of the few spots left for a ship that size. Fortunately the ship seemed to still be in one piece, albeit battered slightly more than usual. All that mattered was that it made it back here, and she watched the ship's entry ramp lower to let the passengers out.

"What took you guys so long?" Leia demanded.

First one out was Aang, and he was in a good mood. "Hey Leia, sorry we're late. We had to lie low for a while. Good news, took out a Star Destroyer."

"How did you do that with just the _Falcon_?" Leia asked.

Second coming down was Katara, and hearing that question had her smiling brightly. "The ship didn't do anything. It was all Aang."

"Well me and that planet," Aang said.

"You're just being modest," Katara said. She and Aang stepped off the end of the ramp, taking a moment to look around. "You're the reason we got out of there as easily as we did."

"Yeah, easy," Aang remarked. "It took everything I had, including stuff I didn't even know I had, and really all I did was make that thing fall. The planet took care of the rest."

That had Leia wanting to know the details. "Where exactly did you go to pull that off?"

Loud footsteps announced Han's approach down the ramp, and he had a big smirk when he saw Leia there. "That doesn't really matter now your highness. I'm sure the Empire will be bombing that city to oblivion any day now."

"Still, it would be helpful if you told us everything that happened," Leia insisted. She heard more footsteps, and saw someone she didn't recognize. "Is that one of your smuggler friends?"

The dark skinned man in blue came down the ramp and stopped in front of Leia, gently lifting up her hand and kissing it. "Why hello, ma'am, I'm Lando Calrissian. It's such a pleasure to meet you miss…"

"Leia," she said. She politely pulled her hand away. "I'm sure there's a story behind you?"

"Oh I've got plenty of stories," Lando said. He looked Leia in the eye and smiled. "Perhaps we could share them over dinner."

"I think not," Leia said. She looked at the other three people, wondered why Chewbacca was still inside the Falcon, but figured he was doing repairs or something. "I would rather debrief everyone together."

Understanding the turn down, Lando wasn't deterred. "Of course, whatever milady wants."

Leia led the four of them out of the hangar and to the closest meeting room, where they could tell her all about where they had been after the fall of Hoth. Han described the Falcon's fuel issue and the need for a quick fix, which had brought them to Bespin and Cloud City for repairs. Lando took over to describe his city in great detail, including the mining and smuggling operation he administrated, sadly remarking that it had been brought to an abrupt end. Aang and Katara put in small details here and there, saying little until they got to the part when the Empire arrived.

Now Leia wanted every single detail, wanting to know exactly how they dealt with a Star Destroyer without orbital support. She had a little difficulty believing that Aang took it out singlehandedly, despite understanding the concept of airbending being stronger on a gas giant planet. She wished she could have seen it firsthand, which according to Katara it had been an impressive sight to behold. Apparently the Star Destroyer fell deep enough to be crushed by atmospheric pressure, and the remains were likely still falling into the planet's core at this very moment.

"Still, we knew that wouldn't be enough," Aang said. He rested his hands on the table, leaning toward Leia. "The Empire was going to send more Star Destroyers sooner or later. So we had to get out of there while the getting was good."

Lando nodded. "I gave the order to evacuate and abandon the city. When the Empire sends its forces to Cloud City, all they will find is an empty shell."

"And you simply just gave up your little operation?" Leia asked, wondering if she understood this correctly. "And then you decided to come here instead of some other smuggler haven?"

"With the Empire coming down on Bespin, there was no profit to be made there anymore," Lando said. It was certainly a disappointment, that much was certain, but nothing he couldn't deal with. "I have a good feeling about this rebellion of yours. If you've got Han working for you guys on good faith, you must be doing something right."

"Don't drag me into this," Han said, slamming his fist on the table. "You're just hoping she'll give you the same reward she gave me two years ago."

"Or a different kind of reward," Lando said, winking at Leia.

"Uh huh…" Leia said, content to let him believe that. "I'm sure we can find a place for someone like you. After all, we did it for Han easily enough."

"Much to my chagrin," Han said, thinking of all the times he'd risked his neck for this rebellion.

"I think I've heard enough," Leia said. She pushed her chair back and stood up. "If you will excuse me, I need to make a few calls."

* * *

In a set of guest quarters, still getting used to using technology far beyond her understanding, Katara was reading a message sent to a computer terminal for her. Eyes moving back and forth as they read the message, the bright screen reflecting in her gaze, she could hardly believe what she saw. Although it had been sent through the advanced tech used throughout the galaxy, it was written in the script used on Earth. That was why it had been sent to her and Aang at all, being the only ones on _Home One_ and trusted enough to translate it for the rebellion.

That alone had been a surprise, but what the message said was even more astounding.

It was a message from Sokka.

The message didn't go into specifics, for a variety of reasons, the biggest being in case the Empire intercepted the message. It seemed that just like he had been physically brought into the spirit world, he had been brought out of it in a similar manner. As Aang had suspected when they couldn't find him in the spirit world again, Sokka had gone to a place they could not reach. But as with seemingly everything Sokka dealt with, the universe seemed to go out of its way to screw him over. Although he was back in the physical world, he was stranded on a very different world than Earth.

The message didn't say which planet he was on, given that Sokka didn't know where in the galaxy he had wound up. He even mentioned that he was fortunate to have found a transmitter to send this message, relying on the good graces of those that had found him on this strange new world. But tech experts on _Home One_ had back-traced the message, and had found the planet it had been transmitted from. It was a planet controlled by the Empire, often used for training purposes, and had recently developed a severe insurgency problem.

Katara was reading the message for a fifth time when Aang woke up, and she turned around to see him walking over. "Look at this!"

Aang leaned over and read the message, his eyes getting wider the further along he read. "Is this real? Or is someone pranking us?"

"It looks real to me," Katara said. She switched to another message sent to her, a few short sentences from Leia. "Leia thinks it's real too. And if we're going to do something, we need to do it now."

"When do we leave?" Aang asked.

"Today," Katara said. "At least, if Leia can scrounge up enough support for us."

"Since when do we have support?" Aang questioned. "We're usually alone for this sort of thing."

"I know, right?" Katara said, thinking back on personal experience. "I'm sure there's more going on than just rescuing Sokka."

* * *

It had taken a few more days, a needlessly convoluted travel route, and a few stops on unremarkable planets, but Luke finally made it back to the rebel fleet.

Alongside other stragglers that had gotten separated from the fleet, Luke's X-Wing came out of hyperspace near the Outer Rim, where the rebel fleet was passing through at the moment. Hangar doors were opened on various larger ships to welcome them home, _Home One_ in particular taking on the most of the smaller ships. Luke made sure his ship was the first to get into the hangar, flying inside and landing as far in as possible. Once he touched down he shut off the engines and opened the canopy, all while automated equipment hoisted R2-D2 out of the X-Wing.

Luke dropped down from the ship, and he saw the droid being lowered onto the floor next to him. "Thanks for putting up with everything R2. I really appreciate you sticking around after everything."

R2-D2 made a long string of beeps and whistles, then rolled away to find a maintenance station and get cleaned up properly.

"That's fair," Luke said. He walked off in a different direction, heading for the one of the turbolifts to get through the ship quickly. "Where's Leia?"

An officer provided her current location, and Luke gave his thanks before getting on his way. He passed through the ship and quickly reached the front end of _Home One_ , ending up in the upper levels near the bridge. Fortunately it seemed that Leia was in her quarters, kept near the bridge in case of emergency, and Luke knew his way around the ship to get there. When he arrived he politely knocked on the door, and he patiently waited to get a response. It was a few minutes before he heard footsteps on the other side, and he saw the door slide open into the wall.

"Luke!" Leia shouted, surprised that he was here, though for a variety of reasons. "When did you get back? Where have you been? What took you so long?"

Despite being woken up early in the morning, or what was scheduled to be morning in the fleet, Leia still put on an appearance for anyone that happened to be looking right now. Granted, one could see that she wasn't getting much sleep, and the slight mess in her hair was telling enough of that. But seeing Luke was already improving her mood, though she was still annoyed that no one had sent word ahead of his arrival. She had wanted to know the moment he landed, but it seemed that the crew of this ship had wanted her to be pleasantly surprised.

"Just got back a little bit ago," Luke answered. He smiled and tilted his head to one side. "I came straight here after landing."

"I'm glad you did," Leia said. She took a step back into her quarters, and gestured for Luke to come in as well. "It's been very bad around here without you."

"Sorry about that," Luke said, entering the room. "I've been losing track of time a lot lately."

"Apparently," Leia said. She closed the door, and turned around to face Luke inside her quarters. "So what happened on your end? It was like you fell off the face of the galaxy."

"I've been busy training on Dagobah," Luke said. "If I had known the Empire was preparing to attack Hoth, I would have left a lot sooner."

"We really could have used your help back then," Leia said. She thought about what had happened, and all the damage the Empire had inflicted in a few short hours. "That's all in the past now. I could really use your help for an operation I've got planned."

"Sure," Luke said. "What do you have in mind?"


	35. Heavyweight Contenders

Chapter 35: Heavyweight Contenders

"Sure she looks pretty, but I'm sure she flies like a ton of bricks."

Han wasn't too impressed with the new ship in the hangar, or at least it was new to him anyway. It was one of the Zeta class shuttles captured by the rebels, its four wings retracted into an upright position, the main section surprisingly well armored for a cargo hauler. This one had been refurbished since its capture, more armor attached to the front cockpit and underbelly, weapon ports attached in various places, and a new shine and polish given to the hull. This ship looked like it could take a beating and dish it out just as well, though Han could imagine all the problems likely to be found inside.

"Is there a reason you buffed this ship into oblivion?" Han asked, looking at the general beside him.

Through still disheartened by the defeat at Hoth, General Rieekan continued to put everything he had into the rebellion. "Your ship is becoming a bit too recognizable. You're going to need something a bit more discreet where you're going."

"Uh-huh, discreet," Han said. "Let's see how long that lasts."

Han went inside this seemingly tough little ship, getting a firsthand view of the insides for himself. At first glance everything seemed to be in good condition, if a bit cramped in places that were not very important. But when he took panels off and looked at the parts underneath he started seeing problems, namely that someone incompetent had put things back together after the refurbishing. All sorts of parts and components were left unsecured, placed in weird positions that left empty and unused space, used unnecessarily expensive hardware for the job, or some combination of all of the above.

Having just a few hours before a scheduled departure, Han got to work fixing up the ship as much as he could. He brought Chewbacca aboard to help him out, and they could at least get the ship somewhat to their liking. They used several engineering tricks they'd acquired over the years of smuggling cargo, increasing system efficiency through bypassing safety restraints, streamlining power flow by removing excessive regulators, and other jury-rigging tricks that may or may not be safe. Han was finishing work on the cockpit when more people arrived, and he quickly put everything back together again.

It was early in the afternoon by then, and Han saw the two teenagers coming aboard the ship. "Is there a reason you two keep getting paired up with us?"

Standing just inside of the ship, the lower level that led into the cockpit, Aang and Katara could just smile at Han. Aang leaned back and crossed his arms behind his head. "Maybe Leia just likes to see you suffer. That's my best guess."

"Sounds like her," Han said. He sighed and pinched his nose. "What are we getting into this time?"

"We're supposed to give you this," Katara said, handing over a pad. "I believe they are new orders."

Han accepted the pad and looked over the data within, confirming that they were indeed orders. As he had figured when the general put him on this cargo ship, Han was supposed to fly it into enemy territory. What he hadn't realized was that other ships would be accompanying him, a whole new squad set up in haste just for this mission. Not just ships too, but soldiers to be carried and deployed on some world held by the Empire. Even now the first of those soldiers were coming aboard the ship, finding a place to sit or stand during a flight.

Similar cargo ships spread across the fleet were being similarly filled with soldiers, all of them getting ready to leave once the signal to depart arrived. None of them were fit to last long in a space battle, but if things went according to plan they wouldn't need to fight in space. The people inside mentally prepared themselves for the mission, checked their weapons and gear, ready to leave at a moment's notice. Idle conversations were minimal in most of the ships, the people not wanting to talk about what they were going to be doing.

Right when they were about to leave, someone else arrived at Han's ship. "Room for one more?"

"Hey kid," Han said, turning to see Luke coming aboard. "This must be really important if her royal highness is sending you along."

"Good to see you," Aang said. "How are things back on Dagobah?"

"Fine when I left," Luke answered. He picked a spot in the cockpit and started putting on a wall mounted harness. "Yoda wasn't happy about it, but I think I made the right choice."

"Well he can have you back later," Katara said. She was sitting next to Aang in the second set of seats in the cockpit, right behind Chewbacca in the copilot's seat. "I for one, think you're better off with us."

"And I have no idea what you guys are talking about," Han said. He saw a signal arrive in the controls, and he started to fly the ship. "Never mind, it's time to go."

The cargo ship lifted off the floor and turned around, flying toward the hangar doors as they opened. Once it was out and in open space the ships wings were lowered into proper position, pointing down and away from the ship just like imperial shuttles. The ship flew away from _Home One_ and the rebel fleet in general, meeting up with all the other cargo ships doing the same. Han's ship got to take point in the formation, leading the dozen ships taking part in the mission. They faced the same patch of stars, nav computers making the same calculations, and one by one they made the jump to hyperspace.

* * *

"Who gave the order to deploy those ships?"

Mon Mothma had been coming out of a meeting when she entered the bridge, doing so just in time to see all the captured cargo ships heading out into hyperspace. It seemed that she was left in the dark about the mission those ships were sent on, and there were only two or three people in the rebellion that could have arranged for this oversight. Fortunately one of them was already on the bridge, and she seemed to take a lot of pleasure in Mon Mothma's bemusement. Leia was standing in the corner looking at her, the smile plain for all to see.

"You wanted to go on the offensive," Leia said. She crossed her arms and leaned back. "You got it."

Mon Mothma couldn't argue with that, and she looked at the main viewscreen to the patch of stars those ships had been aimed toward. "Where did you send them?"

"There was a request for help on an imperial world," Leia said. She walked over to Mon Mothma and handed her a pad with all the details. "It looks like as good a place to strike as any."

Reading through the data on the mission, Mon Mothma nodded. "Well then… let's hope this insurgency on Carida is worth it."

* * *

The trip through hyperspace lasted half a day, and everyone inside the cargo ships got some rest along the way. Everyone was ready by the time they arrived, going over the plan in the last few minutes one more time, doing their best to calm their nerves. One by one the ships emerged from hyperspace, returning to the black void of normal space. There was a planet in the distance, barely bigger than a marble from this distance, larger than many had expected. That was a testament to how big this planet really was, and why imperial regulations required ships to approach from so far away.

Already there was a signal coming from imperial ships in orbit, and a particularly bored voice came through the transmission. _"Cargo ship convoy, identify yourselves and state your purpose here."_

Han was ready for it, and he played the role of a convoy leader. "This is the cargo ship _Tiberius_ , leading Delta Convoy on a supply run to Carida. Transmitting confirmation code now."

This was the first test of the mission, hoping that the codes they used were still valid. It helped that they had been intercepted the day before, and that there actually was a convoy scheduled to come here, if it weren't for a very convenient delay elsewhere. As far as the imperials here could be aware of, this was the convoy that was supposed to be here today. They seemed to be taking their time processing the confirmation codes, being through in making sure everything was in order, each second lasting an eternity for the rebels waiting for the go ahead.

But after a few minutes the bored imperial officer responded. _"Confirmation code accepted_ Tiberius _. Supply depot thirty-one is ready to receive your cargo. Sending landing coordinates now, do not deviate from this flight path. If you need to make an emergency landing, avoid the southern jungles at all costs."_

"Thanks for the heads up," Han said. " _Tiberius_ out."

Once the transmission was over, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The convoy continued on its way toward the planet, passing by imperial patrol ships along the way. Soon the planet filled the view ahead of the convoy, and they got to see the few Star Destroyers orbiting Carida. Standard orbit was much higher here than on most worlds, and the pull of gravity took hold much earlier than the norm. That was to be expected on a terrestrial planet nearly twice the typical size, with the intense gravity well to match.

Flying into that gravity well required far more caution and care than usual, lest one make a mistake and get the ship torn apart. Han knew what he was doing and didn't have a problem, but a few of the rebel pilots struggled with the task, but did not fail at it. They gradually descended toward a military base in the northern continent, and they could see the tops of jungles far to the south. The ships stayed on their assigned course, and soon several landing pads came into view, surrounding the several dozen buildings that composed the imperial supply depot.

Despite still being several kilometers above the surface of the planet, the pull of gravity already surpassed the artificial gravity inside the ships, and they started feeling heavier than usual. Everyone had been warned about this sensation ahead of time, but only firsthand experience could truly prepare them for it. It was only going to get worse from here, and they hoped they wouldn't have to stay in it for very long. When the ships came in for a landing it seemed like everything was double the normal weight, and mobility was inhibited by limbs that were harder to move around.

And yet Aang was feeling good despite the extra weight. "Boy, you guys weren't kidding about this place. It's going to be hard just to move around."

"You're going to want to watch where you step," Han advised. He remembered the few times he had been on worlds like this, never staying longer than a few hours at a time. "If you trip you're guaranteed to break something important."

"Good to know," Katara said. She slowly turned her head toward Aang, noticing the growing grin he had. "Are you feeling what I think you're feeling?"

The ship touched down with a loud thud, and Aang planted his feet firmly on the floor. "Yes I am."

"Don't be too hasty with the kung fu magic powers," Han ordered. He unbuckled his seat's harness and slowly stood up, turning around to see everyone else do the same. "We're only going to surprise them once. I'd rather not blow our load too early."

"Right," Aang said. He slowly stood up, taking care not to trip over himself. "I'll wait for your signal."

Outside the ship there were imperials approaching, all in lightweight worker clothes for noncombat duty. They were bringing several hover dollies to the ship, ready to unload the supplies promised for this base. They had no idea what was actually inside the ship, expecting this procedure to go as it always did. The same was going on around all the other cargo ships that landed around the base, just another day for the people that worked in this heavy hellscape. When the hover dollies were in position the workers signaled the ships, expecting them to open up for unloading.

The doors opened up, and the workers only had a second. "What the…"

Rebel troops opened fire, two dozen blasters for every ship, cutting down the workers before they could react. The rebels came out of the ships and fired at every imperial they could see, clearing out the space around the landing pads within a few short seconds. From there they charged toward the base from several directions, crossing the short paths before the alarm went off. There were several doors for access to the various buildings that composed the base, all locked when the alarm sounded, and the rebels proceeded to attach explosives to the doors.

"Fire in the hole!"

The explosives were detonated, a chain of explosions rang through the base, and the doors were blown to bits. Debris fell to the ground faster than usual, given the high gravity pulling it down, limiting the collateral damage inflicting on the interior. Once the way was clear the rebels invaded the buildings, shooting at imperials responding to the alarm, making progress bit by bit. Amazingly, there were only a small handful of stormtroopers around, easily disposed of by the rebel troops, their bodies pushed to the side so that no one would trip on them.

Escorted by their group of rebel troops, heading into the largest of the buildings of the base, Han and Luke were giving orders and directing the advance. Aang and Katara were right behind them, ready to bend when the need arose, but haven't needed to yet. This building appeared to be a small command center, and as such it had the most stormtroopers to defend it, yet still only a couple dozen of them. They were easily dispatched by the rebel troops, Han and Luke getting a few shots in, but otherwise disposed of without any real difficulty.

When they reached the center of the place, Aang was looking around at all the control consoles scattered about the large room. "Okay, we're here. Now what?"

Han went for one of the consoles, left online when its user had been shot down, and started looking through a database on it. "Now we look up the local resistance, find out where they are relative to here, and hope your friend is still with them."

"How long is that going to take?" Katara asked.

"Sounds like a while," Aang assumed.

"Got it," Han said, surprising just about everyone. "They're actually… oh wow, not all that far away. No wonder there weren't many stormtroopers here, most of the garrison is off on the front lines."

"They couldn't spare more people to defend this place?" Luke wondered.

"To be fair, they weren't expecting an attack here," Han said. "If it wasn't for your friend we probably wouldn't even know a resistance was here at all. Otherwise we wouldn't have bothered."

"Okay then," Katara said. "Where do we go?"

"South," Han said. "We'll need to hijack some rides."

To that end, a signal was sent out to the other rebel groups, and they all made their way to the base's vehicle garage. They took whatever supplies they might need along the way, keeping the weight to a minimum wherever possible. The different groups converged on the garage from various angles, discovering that it had been locked down already. The answer to that problem was more explosives, and new entrances were blasted open. The few imperials inside tried to shoot back, only to get shot down by the rebel troops on their way inside.

Inside the garage were a few dozen speeder bikes and a lot of empty space, likely meant for armored hover tanks deployed to the front lines. The first rebels inside took the time to lift the lockdown and raise the garage's main doors, permitting the speeder bikes to leave the building. The rebels paired up for each speeder bike, hotwiring where necessary, and taking off one bike at a time. No one dared to engage the throttle to maximum here, where one small mistake could lead to a fatal crash, especially since there would be so many things to crash into on this planet.

Aang rode passenger with Luke driving a speeder bike, Katara on the bike Han took, riding in the middle of a wide formation. Chewbacca was on his own speeder bike and bringing up the rear, no one willing to ride with the wookie. They travelled away from the base and into the forest to the south, passing by the stunted trees along simple dirt paths. Everyone kept their eyes on the path ahead, taking care to avoid anything that could possibly be an obstacle, as well as other dangers. It was a surprisingly short trip, despite the slow speed they travelled.

Looking ahead, Aang spotted something in the distance. "Something's going on up there."

"Yup," Luke said, seeing the same thing. "That looks like a fight."

A long line of imperial forces were directly ahead, men and machinery forming a barricade against aggressors beyond. A long swath of forest had been cut down to accommodate them, the dense trunks of fallen trees adding to the strength of the defense. Hundreds of blasters and other assorted weaponry were being fired forward, shooting at something the rebels couldn't see during the approach. The imperials didn't turn to look when they heard the speeder bikes approaching, instead simply responding on the radio with a basic complaint.

" _It's about time you guys got here! We really need the help!"_

"They think we're reinforcements," Han said.

"They think wrong," Katara said.

Making sure to use rebel frequencies, so to not be heard by the imperials, Han gave the order. "Close in to point blank and open fire."

The rebels accelerated toward the imperials, got ready to make a hard turn, and primed the blasters mounted on the speeder bikes. At the last second they opened fire, blasted the imperial line from behind, and swerved to avoid crashing into them. A single volley decimated the imperial line, all their defenses facing the other way, wiping out a wide swath of stormtroopers and assorted machinery. The imperials only had a moment to scream before they were gunned down, and the survivors responded with a shocked silence.

But then a few rebels misjudged the turn, lost control of their speeder bikes, and crashed into the shot up remains of the imperial line. Their screams were short and quickly silenced, bodies mangled and broken and strewn amidst the dead imperials. There was no time to mourn for their loss, something to be done after the battle had passed. Now there was only the fight to consider, and there was a moment to exploit the added confusion the crashes provided. The remaining rebels turned their bikes around for another attack run, aiming for parts adjacent to the damaged section of the imperial line.

By now the imperials realized they were under attack from both sides, scrambling to adjust their defense accordingly. The fortifications and heavy weaponry were all aimed in one direction, and could not be easily turned around. It was up to stormtroopers and handheld blasters to turn around and shoot at the rebels, the heavier weaponry still firing at the foe on the other side. Stormtroopers hit a few of the speeder bikes with their blasters, and the resulting crashes hit the imperial line, inflicting even further damage.

A stray shot hit Luke's speeder bike, right behind where Aang was sitting, and he barely kept control of the vehicle. "Hang On!"

Aang felt the bike start to spin, and he looked down to see the ground coming up bit by bit. "Jump!"

The speeder bike tipped and the back end hit the ground, the snag making it flip end over end. Aang was already jumping off, and he was slightly flung away as the bike crashed and burned. He summoned the wind to soften the fall, to limited effect thanks to being so heavy, and it still hurt a lot when he tumbled across the ground. Nothing broke, though Aang was certain he'd be sore in the morning, assuming he made it to morning after all of this. He saw the speeder bike break apart into dozens of pieces, somehow still exploding at the end of the crash into a big fireball.

And then Aang saw Luke make a graceful landing, lightsaber flashing on and deflecting blaster bolts every which way. "Now that's hardly fair."

The other speeder bikes went by and made their second firing run, drawing imperial attention away from Luke and Aang. But the distraction lasted only a few short moments, and when the rebels were heading away the stormtroopers turned their attention to the remaining threat. Still split between fighting forward as well as back, and only basic blasters shooting at two targets. Luke's lightsaber was reflecting blaster bolts back where they came from, and several stormtroopers fell to their own shots in a few short moments.

Aang wasn't about to let Luke have all the action, so he punched the ground to earthbend. Dirt and rock exploded upward, a long line of shattered soil stretched away from him, hitting all the stormtroopers and knocking them off their feet. The line kept on going, slammed into the imperial fortifications, tearing them apart as the foundations disintegrated. And it still kept going, far beyond what Aang intended, causing far more destruction than that move should have done. It brought a stop to all the fighting in the immediate area, just to stare at the sight before everyone.

Luke turned toward Aang, turning off his lightsaber. "That's… impressive."

Suddenly there was a large earthquake, further damaging the imperial line, and nearly knocking Aang off his feet. "Okay, that wasn't me."

Colossal spikes of rock jutted up from the ground, spreading out in two distinct lines, tearing up the imperial line in both directions. Everything built atop the ground was torn apart, nothing was spared from the stone stampede. And then everything went still, and silence reigned in the jungle around Luke and Aang. Then there were footsteps, slow and heavy, dozens approaching the two men left standing. Aang closed his eyes and stomped a foot down, looking to see without seeing, wishing he had better practiced this technique his earthbending teacher had tried to teach him.

What he found shocked him. "How…"

"You're gonna break your leg doing that here Twinkletoes!"

Both men turned toward the voice, though only Aang recognized it. "Toph?!"

Appearing alongside a few dozen other people, it was the master earthbender that Aang remembered. He hardly recognized her at first, needing a moment to process the way Toph looked. For one thing she had shaved off all of her hair, leaving barely more than fuzz atop her scalp. The tight green clothes she wore covered the bare essentials and a little bit more, leaving muscular and well-toned arms and legs exposed. Not to mention her skin was absolutely clean, none of the coating of earth she always said was healthy for her. Only the glazed over eyes were the same, something that never mattered to Toph.

Aang ran across the shattered imperial line, as fast as his heavy legs would allow, stopping in front of the girl still barely shorter than him. "Toph… How… Why… What…"

"Long story," Toph said. "We can catch up once we're out of here. I presume your friend has a ship nearby that we can use?"

"Several, actually," Aang said. He pointed a thumb over his shoulder, back toward the imperial base. "We should probably leave sooner rather than later. I assume Sokka's with you? He's the one that sent the message that brought us here."

"I sent him ahead with the rest of my spies," Toph said. "I just need to have someone send a signal to tell them where to go."

By then Luke had walked over to the group, observing the conversation in front of him. "I presume you two know each other?"

"We go way back," Aang said. He turned towards Luke, looked past him for the rebels on speeder bikes. "We're going to need a new ride. Can you call up Han and get him back here?"

"Yeah, sure," Luke said. He took out a communicator and transmitted on a rebel frequency. "Han, we're going to need every bike we've still got. Our local rebellion is here, and they need transport."

There was a moment's hesitation, but then Han's voice came through. _"We'll be back in a bit. It's hard to turn these things around here."_

"Or I can just do this," Toph said. She used earthbending to raise a mound of dirt beneath her feet, wide enough to lift everyone around her, and made it move forward at a reasonable pace. "Just point the way."

"Okay…" Luke muttered. He got back on the communicator. "Scratch that Han. We'll meet you back at the base for extraction."

* * *

At this point in his life, Sokka had given up on finding a rational explanation for what was going on.

After being Earth's main representative to a faction of space rebels, being stranded in the spirit world for what felt like eternity, then winding up in a place where everything was heavier than it should be, it was too much for him to make sense of it all. There was no reason for his exit from the spirit world to drop him off on any particular planet, much less one that had contained a friend for the better part of a year. He could imagine Aang trying to explain that with some spiritual mumbo jumbo, connections between friends influencing the nature of the spirit world, as if that would somehow explain everything.

Now he stood beside several short and muscular men and women, adapted to living on this heavy hellhole of a planet, struggling just to move around. Although it was tempting to leave behind his space sword and space shield, Sokka was never going to abandon the two things that had stuck with him through everything. He had them sheathed and on his back respectively, yet even there it was workout just remain standing. Sokka had no idea how Toph tolerated this place, despite the cosmetic changes she had made to shave off every last ounce of weight she could possibly remove.

In front of him was an imperial base, seemingly ransacked by whoever was in the cargo ships that had landed recently, and occupied only by the dead bodies left behind. Sokka and the small group had come here after receiving a signal from Toph's group, once they had learned exactly where to go for to get off this oversized rock. The cargo ships appeared to still be in working order, albeit not fit for combat by any means, meant for hiding in plain sight on the way here. Getting out was going to be difficult, no matter who would be flying the ships.

Sokka heard noise from the south and slowly turned his head that way. "That must be them."

A couple dozen speeder bikes were inbound, a little worse for wear but otherwise functional. A few of them were overburdened by an extra passenger, the weight nearly enough to make the speeder bikes drag against the ground. There were a few wounded among their number, mostly minor wounds resulting from blaster bolts, the dead being left behind. They were heading into the imperial base at a cautious pace, mounted blasters at the ready and firing at the slightest bit of movement, though it was unnecessary at the moment.

Then Sokka saw a large and moving mound of dirt, and he felt somewhat relieved. "Okay, there she is. Let's get down there."

It was slow going getting down to the base, having to walk when a single misstep could break a leg. So in spite of being far closer than the other two groups, they were the last ones to arrive. When they arrived they found the speeder bikes scattered around the base, abandoned next to the landing pads and their riders heading into the ships. Sokka saw Toph heading for one of the ships, though he didn't recognize anyone else from here. He walked in her direction, expecting her to notice him long before he got to her, and she certainly did.

"About time you got here," Toph said.

"Sorry I took so long," Sokka said, being a little winded from the walk. "It's hard to move quickly here."

"I know," Toph said. She took a few steps toward the closest ship. "Hey Twinkletoes, is everything ready in there yet?"

Recognizing the nickname, Sokka's mood greatly improved. "Aang's here!?"

His voice was heard inside the ship, and the next second the teenage airbender came out. "Sokka!"

They met in the middle and shook hands, glad to see each other in the flesh. "Good to see you on this side. I see you got my message."

"Yeah," Aang said. They let go, and he turned around to poke his head back inside the ship. "Katara, get out here."

Before Sokka could say anything, Katara emerged from the ship. "Sokka! You're okay!"

She ran over to Sokka and wrapped her arms around him, squeezing a bit too tightly in the hug. "Ribs… watch the ribs…"

"Sorry," Katara said, pulling away from her brother. "It's just that after everything, I've got to make sure it's for real this time."

"I get it," Sokka said. He felt a tear roll down his face, and he smiled as he wiped it away. "I'm really sorry for the whole slicing off your hand thing."

Katara looked down at her wrist, flexing the fingers that she was grateful to still have in the physical world. "It's fine. You've been through a lot, more than I want to know."

"You can make up later," Toph interrupted. She pointed her thumb back into the ship. "We need to get going while the going's good."

Inside the ship and at the controls, Han was prepping the ship for takeoff. "We're almost ready to go. Wait… hang on… we've got bombers inbound. Crap."

Toph ran over to a clear spot, and she stood with her feet wide apart and fists held low. "Point me."

Half a dozen of her local rebels hurried to Toph's side, standing a dozen feet away and forming a circle with Toph in the middle. They spotted the imperial bombers in the distance, and each pointed a finger at them and followed their path through the sky. Toph judged the distance based on the moving fingers, calculated where the bombers are and where they would be, and waited for the right moment to strike. The bombers were nearly on top of them when the moment came, and Toph stomped her feet and raised her fists to earthbend.

The ground shattered and dozens of boulders flew upward, hurled in an arc high above the base, ascending despite the high gravity working to pull them back down. Enhanced earthbending got the boulders high enough, and then let gravity take over as the bombers swooped in. They tried to swerve out of the way, but it was too late for most of them to dodge. The boulders came down and slammed into them, the kinetic force enough to tear the bombers apart, and the pieces fell to crash all around the base.

The impacts could be felt for miles, and even inside the ship. Han was understandably concerned. "What the hell was that?"

"Me," Toph bragged. "I got them all in one shot."

Sokka pointed at one bomber still in the air. "You missed one."

That imperial bomber continued on its way, flying over the base and dropping its payload. Several bombs fell down onto the base, exploding on impact with buildings and ships alike, leaving half a dozen craters scattered around the place. One of the cargo ships was destroyed, the rebels inside killed with it, their remains scattered across the immediate area. The imperial bomber didn't dare turn around, its pilot not wanting to end up like his comrades, retreating back to the ship it had been launched from. It did its job, and wasn't going get wrecked in a second pass.

"Let's go before they send more of them," Aang said.

Everyone climbed into the remaining cargo ships, overloading them beyond their carrying capacity, but that limitation was promptly ignored. Han and Chewbacca worked on the assumption that weight limits were merely guidelines, deliberately set on the low end to allow situations like this. There weren't enough seats to go around, and Luke stood in the center to give his seat to Sokka. Toph claimed the seat Aang was going to take, certain that she was going to be miserable throughout the ride. Katara and Aang stood next to Luke, holding onto something as the ship started to rumble.

"Are you sure we can still take off?" Katara questioned. "We're a lot heavier this time around."

"It'll hold," Han promised. He finished the takeoff preparations, and steadily throttled the engine. "Here we go."

The ship struggled to lift off the ground, the metal straining under the load, but it did ascend bit by bit. Everyone inside was rattled during takeoff, and anyone prone to motion sickness promptly threw up. Once the ship was in the air Han engaged the throttle to maximum, and the ship launched forward and upward into the sky. The other ships followed Han's ship away from the base, struggling to ascend with acceptable speed, fighting the planet's deep gravity well for every meter. It was taking everything the ships had to make the trip into space, but eventually the blue sky turned into the starlit black void.

The pull of gravity subsided with altitude, and the artificial gravity inside the ships was set to normal levels. It was a great relief to everyone inside the ships, no longer burdened with twice their normal weight, but their troubles weren't over yet. Sensors reported Star Destroyers inbound, approaching from several directions, all staying in high orbit to avoid the planet's immense gravity. TIE Fighters were being launched and flew on intercept courses, dozens for every cargo ship trying to leave, closing in them like a swarm of crow-bees.

"Hang on!" Han said. He made the ship swerve to the left, and everyone inside was thrown to the right. "This is going to be close!"

The TIE Fighters swooped in and opened fire, their blasters shooting at every possible target, the bolts crisscrossing in space all around the cargo ships. Some of them hit their targets, damaging the cargo ships bit by bit, and the hulls wouldn't last for long. The only way out was a jump to hyperspace, but there was no time to plot a course. Pilots made the jump anyway, not caring where they might end up, as long as it was anywhere but here. A pair of ships exploded in the attempt, their engines damaged by blaster fire, exploding when their hyperdrives engaged.

Han saw those ships exploding, and he engaged the hyperdrive anyway. "Rough ride coming up! Say your prayers now while you still can!"


	36. Deep Detour

Chapter 36: Deep Detour

Stars turned into streaks, and were replaced with the blue void of hyperspace. The ship shook more violently than ever before, as if the whole thing was going to tear itself apart. Toph threw up onto the floor again, feeling like she was going to cough up her stomach. Luke had his eyes closed and hand held forward, focusing on the Force to hold the ship together. Han and Chewbacca were using every trick they knew to keep the ship flying, eyes on the various readouts, trying to push it as far as it could before the engines would burn out.

"Come on… come on…" Han grumbled, knuckles white from gripping too hard. "Hold together…"

Something shook the ship even harder, Han cursed, and frantically worked to prevent the ship from exploding in hyperspace. The hyperdrive was disengaged, the ship returned to normal space, coasting with a plume of smoke pillowing out the starboard side. Alarms were blaring inside the ship, warning of severe damage, which they were already well aware of. Han worked to shut down every system connected to the damaged part, which turned off everything short of life support. Artificial gravity was shut down, with all the obvious consequences.

"Gross!" Katara complained. She saw puke floating up from the floor, forming several spherical globules moving around the place. She tried to waterbend them away, the wave of her arm did nothing. "Crap."

"Sorry," Toph apologized. She heaved one more time, but there was nothing left in her stomach to throw up. "I'm really bad in a ship."

Aang waved an arm to airbend, which did nothing here beside splatter a puke glob on his hand. "Eww… not what I wanted to do."

Another small puke glob drifted into the cockpit, which got an angry roar from Chewbacca and a swift order from Han. "Clean that up before it gets into a console! We have enough problems already!"

"On it," Luke said. He held out his hand and closed his eyes, focusing on the Force, and all the puke globs came together in the center of the ship. "Someone get a jar or something to put this in."

Katara rummaged through a storage compartment, threw out junk and let it float about the place, eventually finding a large plastic bottle. "This should work."

Luke made the puke flow into the bottle and capped it off, and then he made all the junk go back into the compartment where it belonged. "There. Now if no one else throws up, we should be fine."

"So why do your powers still work in space?" Sokka asked. He glanced at everyone else in the ship. "Bending goes haywire wherever we go."

"The Force is everywhere," Luke answered. "As Ben said, it holds us and binds the universe together."

"That's convenient," Aang said. "Then again, everything is connected, I just never thought it was supposed to be taken literally."

"That's all fine and dandy," Han said from the cockpit. He was busy working to keep the ship together, and it didn't help to have the distraction. "It doesn't really help us when we're barely staying in one piece. If any of your special powers can do something, now would be the time."

"Sorry," Luke said. He refocused his efforts on the Force, holding the ship together as if wrapping it in duct tape. "Okay, we should be good for a while."

Sure enough, sensor readouts stabilized somewhat, though Han wasn't sure how long it would last. He let out a sigh of relief, and started checking the navigation readout. "Alright… now we figure out where the hell we are and where the hell we can go without a working hyperdrive."

"That sounds bad," Toph said.

"It is," Katara confirmed.

"You have no idea," Han said. He double checked the readout, heard Chewbacca growl a complaint, and he had to agree. "Yeah, not like we have much choice, or really any choice."

"I take it you know where we are?" Aang asked.

"We barely made it one system over from where we were," Han answered. He set a course for sublight speed, heading into the system ahead of them. "Hopefully, the Empire will think we've gone farther and overshoot us by several parsecs."

"And if they don't?" Sokka asked.

"We get a repeat of Cloud City," Han said. He sighed again, hoping they could get anywhere before something else went wrong. "Right now, I'm more concerned about reaching safe harbor in as few pieces as possible."

The ship continued on its way into the nearest solar system, a trail of small pieces following in its wake. There was a single large sun in the distance, though from this far away it was a pinprick of light only somewhat brighter than the stars. Sensors reported only a trio of planets in this system, none of them ideal for civilization. A broiling gas giant almost hugging the star, a typical gas giant in the middle, and an ice giant at the edge, only the latter being close enough to reach at sublight speed. Any settlements would have to be found on the myriad of moons, none of which were appealing in any fashion.

Still, lacking alternatives, Han steered the ship for the ice giant planet. It took a couple hours for the large blue and black world to come into visual range, currently with a storm in the southern hemisphere large enough to swallow Earth several times over. It was surrounded by dozens of moons in various orbits, most barren and cratered chunks of rock and ice, only a few innermost moons having any interesting features. The innermost moon was melted by tidal forces, spewing volcanic gases into the orbit of the next moon out, which was the largest moon in the system.

The third moon out was their destination, which was the second largest around this planet. Unlike the other moons, this one had an overabundance of water, most of it frozen in a shell of ice several kilometers thick. Tidal forces liquefied the water underneath the ice, resulting in a vast ocean between the ice and the moon's rocky core. The ice shell was riddled with cracks across its surface, many small and narrow while others were large and deep, crisscrossing in an asymmetric pattern. Geysers were common where cracks came together, spraying water into space in accordance with the tides.

In one of the largest cracks there was a gateway between space and the sea, similar to an airlock only scaled up enough to accommodate space ships. It could only be seen from directly above, as from either side the ice would conceal it from view. The cargo ship aligned its trajectory with the gateway, slowed down to a safe speed, and transmitted a signal requesting permission to enter. A few minutes later the gateway opened, granting access to a docking bay big enough for several ships, wedged between the ice and held above the water.

Built centuries ago as part of a Mon Calamari colony, this docking bay had been the place for the aquatic species to interact with air-breathers. It had been the center of commerce this colony had with the greater galaxy, but much of that glory had been lost with the rise of the Galactic Empire. A shadow of its former self, this colony had fallen into a state of disrepair, barely functioning yet willing to welcome any visitors that happened to come this way. It didn't matter how badly damaged said visitor's ship happened to be, as long as they could still spend money here.

As the ship flew into the gateway, Han looked for a suitable place to dock. "Okay, once we land we need to look for a new ship. This one is never going to fly again."

"We didn't bring any money to buy a new ship," Luke pointed out.

"I know," Han grumbled. He spotted a berth and guided the ship toward it. "One thing at a time."

Katara took a moment to stretch her arms, feeling pretty good right about now. "I'm sure we'll figure something out. We usually do."

"You're doing better than I am," Toph said. She had a hand on her stomach, no longer upset but grumbling instead. "I think my earthbending is back, but it feels really weak here."

The ship shook a bit, quickly settled, telling that it had docked. Aang stood up, stretched, and was startled when something blew up. "What was that?"

"That would be our engine's dying breath," Han said.

"Oh," Aang said. "Well, let's get looking for a new ship."

The door was opened and everyone quickly got out of the ship, entering the strange new world that lay before them. The ship was docked near the bottom of the gateway, just above the next airlock that submersible ships could use, which their ship could not. The door opened into a tunnel network that spanned every level of the gateway, even permitting access to the underside of the ice shell. The tunnels were cramped and sparsely lit, half filled with the less fortunate who found themselves stuck here, a far cry from the original inhabitants of this colony.

As if to make things worse, just about every ship here was in nearly as bad a shape as the one they were replacing. No one with a decent ship would be desperate enough to come here, as it would be stripped for parts soon after arriving. Even Han was going to have trouble finding a ship worth taking, before they would have to take it by force. Hopefully Chewbacca's presence would be all the intimidation they need, and if not there were the Jedi and two waterbenders at their disposal, possibly three if Han was judging Sokka's posture correctly.

Walking to the left and slightly behind Han, Sokka was flexing his fingers and looking at his sister. "Hey Katara, Aang, how are you two holding up?"

"Pretty good actually," Katara said. She eyed a bunch of ragged people down on their luck, struggling just to get water out of a leaking pipe, and she subtly bent a stronger current to give them more. "If this place was in better shape, it wouldn't be too bad a spot to be stuck in."

"Not me," Aang said. He almost seemed to be struggling to breath, as if trapped in a small room instead of walking down a tunnel. "Sure, waterbending is working, but everything else is very weak."

"At least you've got something," Toph complained. She was walking behind everyone else, vibration sight letting her watch for any unwanted followers. "I suppose this is what I deserve after being in god-mode for so long. I barely got anything now."

"It's not so bad," Sokka said. "Try living with nothing as normal for a while. You'll get used to it."

"Pass," Toph said.

The group continued on their way down the tunnel, which eventually led them to the bottom of the ice shell. The walls of the tunnel changed from black metal to semi-clear glass, the nano-carbon materials strong enough to withstand the tidal forces working to deform the ice around it. One could see the water beneath the ice shell, and all the myriad forms of life that thrived in it. From the various shapes of fish to the filament shaped plants feeding off heat vents, the scenery was ideal for the Mon Calamari that had wanted to colonize this world.

Still, through the water one could see signs of disrepair, the structures built in the water showing the testament of time. Small upside down buildings hung from the ice, many of them broken off to sink into the depths below. There were several Mon Calamari swimming in the water, some coming close to the water to wave at the rare tourist, though most had more important things to do down here. More importantly, one could see a variety of aquatic ships down here, in varying states of disrepair, but good enough to get someone out of this water world.

Sokka stopped and looked at one of the ships, resembling a fat eel-hound with stubby legs. "I think we've found our way out of here."

Han was inclined to agree. "Now we just need a way to get it. Buying it is out of the question. But I'd rather not take it by force if we can avoid it."

"Maybe we should find the owner first?" Aang suggested. He soon found everyone looking at him. "Hey, for all we know he or she could give us a ride if we ask nicely."

"Somehow, I doubt that," Toph said. Granted, all she saw through the water was a warped and shimmering mess of vibrations, so she was not one to judge. "But if you insist, I'm game."

The ship they wanted was approaching a dock further down the tunnel, though it seemed to be slowing down well short of reaching a berth. It was enough to tell Han where they needed to go, and he led everyone down the tunnel to reach the right part of the colony. There were more people in that area, where the aquatic species did business with air-breathers, inhabiting a series of chambers that alternated between filled with air and filled with water. Of all the places in this colony, this area seemed almost well-off, relatively speaking of course.

Plenty of people of varying species were doing business, and didn't take much notice of half a dozen more. Han and Luke asked around, trying to figure out who owned the ship or how to legally get aboard it. Chewbacca provided intimidation when needed, and Toph was not above making a few threats. Aang and Katara kept their mouths shut and paid attention, learning a thing or two about surviving in one of many hives of scum and villainy. Sokka kept an eye on the ship, just in case it might leave before they could have a chance to take it.

Their search led them to a tavern, there always was a tavern in such places, where Han and Luke sat down at a table in the corner. The others were sitting or standing around other parts of the tavern, trying to look like they weren't with the two men. Sitting across from Han and Luke were a pair of Mon Calamari, fresh from a swim in the waters below, still dripping water onto the floor beneath their feet. Although their clothes were ragged and their faces scarred in places, they held themselves like they were the most important people in the galaxy.

"Meena, Sissalik," Han said, having found out their names ahead of this meeting. "So glad we could have words with each other."

The woman leaned forward, Meena taking a closer look at the well-known smuggler. "Now then, what brings the mighty Han Solo to this neck of the galaxy?"

The other Mon Calamari, Sissalik, tilted his head back and laughed. "I think he's desperate. There's no sign of the _Falcon_ anywhere. Did the old junk heap finally kick the bucket?"

"Hardy har-har," Han said. He rested his elbows on the table and folded his hands. "I had to be incognito for a while, left the _Falcon_ with a friend. As usual, things went wrong. This was the only place I could reach."

"So now you need a new ship," Meena surmised. The lack of a denial was enough to confirm it, and she laughed more than Sissalik did. "And so you come to us. My oh my, this must be painful for you. I wonder, what are you willing to part with for the use of my ship?"

"Well for starters, the salvage value of the ship I got here in," Han said. He noticed a distinct lack of impression on Meena or Sissalik. "And I'm sure the rebellion will compensate you greatly."

Sissalik glanced at something behind Han. "I don't think that's going to work out."

Han didn't have to turn to know there was a blaster pointed at him. "Ugh… so we're going this."

It was a bothan bounty hunter holding the small blaster, his furry face looking at the back of Han's head. "You're in no position to be complaining."

"True," Han said. The bothan couldn't see his smirk, but Meena did. "Then again, you aren't in a good spot either."

The floor exploded, and a geyser of water erupted into the tavern.

The bothan bounty hunter was thrown into the ceiling, instantly knocked out by the hard impact. Katara kept the geyser flowing, twisting and turning to hit other potential threats, demonstrating the raw power of water. Aang kept the water away from friendlies, and the Mon Calamari, finding it surprisingly difficult to keep the water under control. Just about everyone else was struck down by the rushing water, every window was shattered, and even the foundations were damaged by the geyser. Once the point was made the hole in the floor was frozen, and the rushing water came to a stop.

Both Mon Calamari were speechless, and Han's smirk never wavered. "See what I mean?"

It took a moment, but Meena swallowed and nodded. "I… see."

Sissalik stood up, looked at Meena, and turned toward the door. "Right this way."

When they were leaving the flooded remains of the tavern, Luke walked behind Han. "And here I thought I would need to take out my lightsaber."

"Thought about it," Han said. "But the waterbending had a better effect."

The Mon Calamari led the way to their ship, and the group followed at a brisk pace. They were soon brought to a docking berth at the bottom of the ice shell, where their ship was docked and waiting for them. A series of airlocks were required to access the ship, what with it being in the water while the group was still in the air-filled tunnels. Passing through was only a minor inconvenience, and soon they were all inside the ship and walking through brightly lit corridors, heading for the bridge of the ship so they could get ready to leave.

Once everything was ready, cargo loaded up for transport elsewhere, the Mon Calamari crew got the ship underway. The ship detached from the airlock and drifted away from its docking berth, sinking into the ocean to clear the bottom of the ice shell. Engines engaged and the ship moved forward, drifting through the water toward the gateway between ocean and space. The ship had to dive deeper on the way there, needing to reorient itself for a steep upward path, aligning with the gateway while sending the proper requisition codes.

Of course, it wasn't so simple to leave.

Standing in the large cockpit of the ship, Han was looking at the long range scanners. "Took them long enough to follow us here."

The long range scanners were relaying information from the gateway's systems, and their scanners had detected a Star Destroyer approaching the moon. It appeared to be alone, as if sent here solely to check any possible places fugitives might go, the minimum amount of force necessary to do so. It would arrive well before the Mon Calamari ship could get through the gateway, and would likely snare it in a tractor beam. Still, it was too late to turn around, the inner part of the gateway already opening, and the ship heading in without enough space to turn around.

"That's not good," Luke said, seeing the sensor data for himself. "We're not going to be able to slip past them. We're sitting ducks on our way out."

"I don't suppose we can fight in this tin can," Toph said. She didn't have to see to notice the dumbfounded looks sent her way. "We've got to have weapons on this thing, right?"

Sissalik was piloting the ship and he pointed out the obvious. "We're no match for a Star Destroyer. One volley would wipe us out in an instant."

"There must be something we can do?" Toph asked.

Aang had an idea, and he hurried over to Sissalik. "Can you get us just above the ice? As close as you can to the surface?"

Remembering the incident at the tavern, Sissalik got ready to make the necessary maneuver. "We can get within thirty meters without clipping the high areas."

"Close enough," Aang said. He went back to the center of the cockpit. "Katara, Sokka, it's going to take all of us. Follow my lead."

The Mon Calamari ship made its way through the gateway, making the transition from water to space in between airlocks, the far side opening up for them to exit the ocean. By then the Star Destroyer was about to enter orbit around the moon, and it immediately noticed the ship trying to leave the frozen moon. The Star Destroyer changed course to follow, positioning its ventral hull toward the moon, bringing its tractor emitters online. It was already closing in on the much smaller ship below, but keeping its distance from the moon's icy surface.

Flying close to the moon's surface was difficult at best, between the uneven sheets of ice and a lack of atmosphere for maneuvering. Thrusters were needed at full burn to get around the frigid hills and small mountains, all without any wind currents to take advantage of. The ship flew as close as it could to the moon surface, and each delay to avoid high terrain allowed the Star Destroyer to get even closer. It only took a minute for the Star Destroyer to get within tractor range, and at roughly three times the altitude of the smaller ship.

Suddenly, thousands of cracks appeared in the ice below, each spewing water from the ocean into the vacuum of space. A wide line of brand new geysers followed the ship, created by waterbenders inside. When exposed to space the water turned into vapor, forming an ever expanding cloud directly in the path of the Star Destroyer. Too late to pull up or maneuver out of the way, the Star Destroyer flew straight through the vapor cloud. It didn't even try anyway, the bridge crew thinking there was nothing to be concerned about, for it was only water.

Cold water vapor condensed on the Star Destroyer's hull, clinging to every nook and cranny exposed to space. On contact the water froze into ice, forming a sheet that covered every metallic surface, growing thicker with each second as more water added to the ice. At half a meter thick the ice obscured the tractor beam's emitters, stopping them from locking on to anything. At a full meter thick the ice prevented blaster turrets from moving, locking them in place and limiting firing angles. At two meters thick the ice disrupted all sensors, and the danger became all too clear.

Thrusters were activated to burn off the ice, but far too late to make a difference. The additional weight was more than the Star Destroyer could bear, even in the weak gravity of a frozen moon. It fell bit by bit, seemingly in slow motion to observers, until it struck the surface of the moon. Ice stripped away on both ship and surface, and the ventral hull was quickly stripped away, rendering the Star Destroyer without vertical thrust. It took a few kilometers for the whole thing to finally come to a stop, resting on the moon as if parked there on purpose, covered in ice that quickly stuck to the moon's frozen surface.

Seeing the results on sensors, Han was considerably impressed. "We really need to figure out how you people are able to do that."

Finished with the waterbending, and exiting the Avatar State, Aang was a little worn out. "Truth be told, I don't think anyone knows where bending comes from. There are legends about when we learned how to bend, but those seem more like where we got the techniques from."

Katara needed to sit down, exhausted from the effort of trying to keep up with Aang in the Avatar State. "I think we can talk about this later. I'm sure they're calling for backup right now."

Collapsing into a chair, Sokka was about to pass out. "Just get us out of here already."

The Mon Calamari ship made the jump to hyperspace, leaving this spirit forsaken system behind.

* * *

News of yet another Star Destroyer 'landing' quickly passed through the chain of command.

Trapped in the ice of a backwater moon, the _Thunderflare_ was mostly intact, albeit with the bottom levels stripped away in the crash. Every imperial captain was shocked by the loss, though they were not privy to the details. Admirals were surprised and alarmed by how easily it had been brought down, and how widespread the rebels were deploying supernatural assets. The threat to the Empire appeared to rise unabated, despite the recent victory at Hoth. All the Grand Moffs were becoming greatly concerned, worried that the threat from one world might have spread to all of theirs.

Darth Vader was in transit aboard the _Executor_ when the official reports reached him, flying through hyperspace toward the edge of imperial space. It was confirmation that the rebels would not stop resisting the Empire, willing to use every means they could to fight on. And that was without the use of the Force, which Vader suspected the rebels were saving for a last resort. This could not be allowed to continue, and every option was on the table. The Emperor was not going to be happy by the end of this, but then he was rarely happy anyway.

So when he set his plan in motion, Darth Vader did so with full commitment to his chosen path.

* * *

Making its way across the galaxy, the Mon Calamari ship reached friendly territory, where the Empire would not bother looking for anyone.

It was the empty void in between solar systems, the closest stars being small pinpricks indistinguishable from all the other stars of the galaxy. On arrival Han transmitted a signal with his personal codes, which would tell the rebels they had reached the rendezvous point. There were a couple ships from the rescue operation here as well, waiting for someone to come and pick them up. Everyone had to wait a little while longer for a rebel ship to arrive, but the wait was worth it when _Home One_ emerged from hyperspace.

One by one ships were brought into _Home One_ 's hangar, the first being the Mon Calamari ship. It couldn't land quickly enough for Han's liking, and he was the first to climb out once the door was open. The others were not far behind him, and Sokka was particularly glad to enter a place he recognized. The owners of the ship waited to get paid, and once Luke informed the right people the credits were transferred and the Mon Calamari allowed to be on their way. They took their ship back out of _Home One_ , and the two vessels went to hyperspace in different directions.

Everyone went to their quarters for some much needed rest, though Toph needed to share a room with Aang until she got her own. Sokka went to the room he once shared with Katara, feeling strange to be back there after being separated for so long. That didn't stop him from sleeping in his old bed, getting the kind of rest he had sorely lacked over the long months in the spirit world. His dreams were still plagued with the nightmares of that realm, making him toss and turn in the bed, but not bad enough to force him awake.

Katara did her best to comfort her brother in his sleep, even if there was very little she could do to dispel the nightmares. Still, her presence helped to calm him, and that would have to be enough. She took the time to get some sleep of her own, needing it nearly as much as Sokka did. They slept through the night shift aboard this shift, and the early part of the scheduled day shift as well. Nobody bothered them anyway, everyone understanding that they sorely needed rest. Katara was first to wake up, and she was nearly dressed and ready when Sokka rose from slumber.

"Good morning," Katara said. She turned to see him sitting on the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Better than I've been a long time," Sokka answered. "Thank you for coming to get me. For a while there, I thought I was going to be trapped in the spirit world forever."

"Your my brother, I'd do whatever it takes to get you out of a bad place," Katara said. She sat down next to him, putting her hand on his shoulder. "Besides, what would I do without you?"

"Go on crazy missions with insane risks to get me back," Sokka answered.

Katara laughed at that, and she heard him laugh too. "You know it."

* * *

Elsewhere in the ship Aang was letting Toph use his room, until she was assigned a room of her own. First thing she did was sleep like the dead, seemingly immovable like an ancient mountain standing against the test of time. After getting half a day of a sleep Toph finally awoke, and the first thing she did was figure out how to use the shower. Aang found it strange for Toph to be concerned about her cleanliness, but got the impression that it was a learned habit she picked up on that heavy world, where even the smallest bits of extra weight could not be tolerated.

When she finished Toph got dressed in plain clothes, unaware they were black instead her usual greens or browns, and she faced Aang sitting on the bed. "Thanks for letting me use your stuff. Also, the whole picking me up from ironic hell thing, thanks for that too."

"You're welcome," Aang said. He leaned back and stretched his arms above his head. "By the way, I like the new look. Seems like a good fit for you."

"Don't get used to it," Toph said. She ran her fingers through the short fuzz that passed for hair. "I'm growing this back out first chance I get."

"That's too bad," Aang grumbled. He took a moment to look more closely at Toph, preserving the image of her with a shaven head in his mind. "You'll keep the muscles though, right? That seems more like your thing."

"You bet," Toph said. She flexed just for him, showing off more muscle than many men bothered to build. "I went through hell to get this strong. I bet I could chuck you down the length of this ship."

Aang laughed at the thought of her throwing him. "Oh boy, I've definitely missed having you around. It's about time we got the gang back together."

"Feels like it's been forever," Toph said. "I've got a lot to catch up on."

"Well we've got the time," Aang said. "I mean, unless something else happens in this crazy galaxy."

* * *

On the other side of the galaxy, a small one man ship was heading into the backwaters of imperial space.

The sole occupant of this sleek ship was not too happy about it, but could not refuse the orders given to her. She was required to travel to the borderlands, the neutral zone having collapsed since the fall of another empire, one world in particular being of importance. Although there were imperial forces stationed on that world, the Emperor himself wanted a more personal touch, an agent of his will that reported to him directly. This young redheaded woman knew what she would have to do, once she arrived at the little blue marble known as Earth.

After all, this was a task for the Emperor's Hand.

* * *

After getting some rest of his own, Luke found himself summoned to Leia's office near the bridge of _Home One_. He had already delivered his report on the mission's outcome, both the good and the bad parts of what had happened. Luke was surprised to see Mon Mothma and Admiral Ackbar in the office with Leia, having thought this would be a one on one meeting. The three officials were standing in front of a large computer monitor, currently paused on a black screen, left in full view when Luke entered the room to meet them.

"What's going on?" Luke asked.

"A message came in a few hours ago," Leia answered. Her grim expression spoke volumes. "It came from the Empire, specifically addressed to you."

There was one reason Luke could think of for that. "Do you think they know?"

"That doesn't matter," Mon Mothma said. "The message came through our bothan spy network. _That_ means the Empire knew about it all along. Now all of the intelligence they've gathered is suspect."

"Why would anyone in the Empire let us know that they know about the bothan spies?" Luke asked.

"It appears to be a show of good faith," Ackbar speculated. "Whoever sent this message will likely expect us to respond in kind."

"You don't know who sent it?" Luke asked.

"It's encrypted," Leia said. She tapped a few buttons and the computer monitor lit up, displaying the instructions accompanying the message. "And I think you'll be faster than our best code slicers."

Luke read the instructions, and he understood why. "Yeah, I see it."

 _Trust Your Instincts. The Code Will Be Revealed Through Faith In The Force._

"Does that mean anything to you?" Mon Mothma asked.

"Yeah," Luke said. He reached for a chair and brought it over to the computer. "This might take a bit."

He sat down in front of the computer, put his hands just above the keyboard, and closed his eyes. Luke relaxed, focused on the teachings Yoda had taught him, and cleared his mind of everything else. He let the Force flow through him, trusting in its guidance, whatever it may be. His fingertips drifted up and down, and the buttons moved by themselves, inputting a code that only users of the Force could obtain. The image on the monitor changed, the computer using the code to decrypt the message, and text appeared for everyone to read.

 _Luke Skywalker,_

 _The time has come for you and me to meet in person. There is much we must discuss. We may be on opposite sides of this war, but that does not matter to the likes of you and me. Together we can decide the fate of the galaxy, without the Emperor._

 _Come to the system on the Empire's border, to the planet called Earth. Take any precautions you deem necessary. Your allies will not be harmed during our meeting, as long as they are willing to abide by a temporary truce._

 _Until we meet._

 _Darth Vader_


	37. Homeward Bound

Chapter 37: Homeward Bound

To say there was disbelief would be an understatement.

Everyone in the meeting was staring at the message, revealed through use of the Force, just as fantastical as the nearly forgotten religion. The enforcer of the Emperor's will, Darth Vader himself, was offering the rebellion a truce. And it was all to arrange a meeting with Luke Skywalker, a rather low level member of the rebellion, albeit with the trust of one of its leaders. For a moment Mon Mothma wondered if they were being pranked, but the seriousness of such a message quickly dismissed such notions.

Mon Mothma turned toward Luke, eyes narrowing as her gaze met his. "Okay, what did you do to impress the second most evil person in the galaxy?"

"He knows," Luke answered. He took out his lightsaber, turned it on for a moment, and then shut it off again. "I've been training in the Force under Yoda for a while now. He must have sensed the improvements I've been making."

"And it's got him worried," Leia surmised. She turned to look at Luke in the eye. "Are you powerful enough to face him yet?"

"No," Luke answered. He saw the disappointed look, but he had to admit his limits. "I haven't finished my training. I still have a lot to learn from Yoda."

"Then he wants to take a potential threat and nip it in the bud," Mon Mothma figured.

"But why go through the trouble of using our spy network and offering a truce to set up a meeting?" Luke wondered. He was thinking about all sorts of motives, but could not be certain of any. "There's more going on to this."

"It must have something to do with Earth," Admiral Ackbar said. "He could ask for a meeting anywhere in the galaxy, but he picked that planet."

"Yeah," Luke agreed. He thought about his short experience on Earth, and one of his failures immediately came to mind. "We need to know what he wants to do there."

"You can't be serious," Mon Mothma said. "This is _Darth Vader_ we're talking about. Whatever he's got in mind, it's going to be a disaster for us."

"We're not exactly in a position to refuse," Ackbar pointed out. All eyes were drawn to him. "We're still recovering from the loss of Hoth. We need more time to build our forces back up and establish a new base. Even a short truce would be an immense help to our war effort."

"Assuming he honors his word," Leia said. "He wouldn't be the first to renege on a deal. Tarkin did the same thing when he claimed he would spare Alderaan."

"Another reason not to buy into this farce," Mon Mothma said.

"I have to do this," Luke said. Once again, all eyes were on him. "I know it's a gamble, but I can't ignore it. I'm going to Earth, with or without anyone else."

If that was going to be the case, Leia properly faced Luke and nodded. "Then we better make sure you can still get out when you're done."

* * *

Preparations took nearly a week to complete.

Leia wasn't going to let Luke just blindly walk into this meeting, not if she could help it anyway. She made sure he would have support every step of the way, from an escort all the way to Earth, and a quick exit should the need almost certainly arise. A show of strength was also required for any dealings with the Empire, and _Home One_ was chosen to represent the Rebellion, being the most impressive ship available. Everything the Rebellion could not afford to lose was moved to other capital ships, just in case the worst happened while _Home One_ was away from the fleet.

Everyone that did not wish to participate was allowed to leave, and plenty of the crew requested transfers to other ships. Leia couldn't blame them for it, knowing full well that this little operation was going to be a gamble. But there was one group of people eager to stay aboard, the ones that wanted to return home on this mission. It was the only chance they've had to go to Earth in a long time, and they weren't going to pass it up for anything. Leia couldn't blame them for the sentiment, every day wishing she could go back to Alderaan.

In one of the break rooms aboard the ship, Aang and his close friends were gathered around a table, sharing a meal and passing the time with each other for company. They had plenty to catch up on, sharing their experiences since leaving Earth, each with their own story to tell the others. It seemed like forever since the four of them had been together, having been separated even before the Empire invaded their home. It took well over an hour for them to catch up on everything, and they were enjoying their meal the entire time.

After finishing the meal Sokka leaned back in his chair. "Seems like forever since we've done this. It's great to have the gang back together."

"I honestly thought it wasn't going to happen again," Toph admitted. She finished the last piece of meat on her plate, swallowing it in one big gulp. "For a while there, the rescue seemed like I might have been dreaming. Still think I might wake up and be back on that hellhole."

"I just wish we could wake up back home," Aang said. "Everything seemed so simple back there. Find the Fire Lord, defeat the Fire Lord, end the war. Seems easy next to what we're doing now."

"At least we're going back pretty soon," Katara said. "Sure, it won't be the same as we left it, but at least home is still there."

"Don't get your hopes up yet," Toph said. "Who knows what the Empire's been doing to the place? For all we know they destroyed everything and rebuilt it in their image."

"Try not to think that way," Sokka insisted. "It's no use stressing out over the mystery. Better to focus on the here and now instead of dwelling on something we simply don't know."

Then there was a voice speaking over the ship's intercom. _"All hands, prepare for hyperspace jump."_

"Finally," Katara said. "It's about time we got moving."

Everyone felt a slight rumble through their seats, and what little bending any of them had was stripped away. Aang felt the worst of it, losing meager fire and waterbending. "Hopefully, by this time tomorrow, we'll be back to having normal bending. I'm tired of this back and forth between being super awesome and sick to my stomach."

"I guess bending was never meant to be taken off world," Sokka mused. "Who would have thought?"

Toph leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table. "I certainly didn't."

"Yup," Katara said. She stretched her arms and stood up. "Now we just have to wait until this ship takes us back home. Maybe then things will start making sense again."

* * *

On the next day, _Home One_ emerged from hyperspace.

Doing so at the edge of a solar system, as seemed to be the norm for this particular place, the ship hoped to avoid alerting any imperial vessels lying in wait. From there the ship flew into the system at sublight speed, opting for a stealthy entrance for as long such a thing was possible. The ship flew past a pair of ice giant planets, one of which spun on its side oddly enough, and made its way deeper into the system. Along the way _Home One_ took passive scans of the inner solar system, acquiring a picture of the forces the Empire had around Earth.

If the scans were accurate, it seemed that Darth Vader had carried through on the proposal for a truce. Only a single ship was in Earth's orbit, all others seemingly sent elsewhere in the galaxy. However, the single ship here was a Super Star Destroyer, and an infamous one at that. For it was the _Executor_ , the flagship of the imperial fleet, Darth Vader's personal favorite ship for conquering worlds. Superior to _Home One_ in just about every tactical sense, the _Executor_ was a formidable force to reckon with all by its lonesome.

Standing on the bridge of _Home One_ , Leia had her eyes on the sensor readouts, waiting for a reaction to their presence. "Take us in, slow and steady. If that ship does anything, be ready to respond."

It did not take long for the _Executor_ to make the first move. It left Earth orbit and flew into a heliocentric position, just barely beyond the reach of the planet's gravity. There it reoriented itself to match _Home One_ 's orientation, putting its starboard side toward the other ship. Shields were brought online, but weapons remained inactive, and the compliment of TIE Fighters remained in the hangar. It demonstrated a willingness to defend itself, but would not be the one to strike first. As long as no one got scared and fired anyway, it wasn't going to be the _Executor_ that broke the truce.

A signal came through, and an officer aboard _Home One_ reported it. "They're hailing us."

This was the moment of truth, and Leia took in a deep breath. "Put it through."

For meetings between capital ships, holograms were used in communications. As such a true-scale hologram of an imperial officer appeared before Leia, and a hologram of her would appear in the other ship. This officer was none other than Admiral Ozzel, the usual commanding officer of the _Executor_ , whenever Vader happened to be elsewhere. Although it seemed that Ozzel did not approve of this meeting, he would carry it out to the best of his ability, like any respectable officer would. Leia certainly understood that sentiment, and wanted to get it over with quickly for both their sakes.

"Greetings Admiral," Leia said, putting on a professional tone for such an important communication. "I trust you are ready to receive our envoy."

" _Yes ma'am,"_ Admiral Ozzel said, albeit reluctantly. He nodded to someone outside of the hologram's image. _"We're transmitting the identify friend-foe codes now."_

An officer signaled the reception of those codes, and Leia nodded back to the admiral. "Acknowledged. We will be sending our delegation shortly."

Said delegation would be traveling aboard the _Millennium Falcon_ , personally chosen by Leia for this mission. It was already well known by the Empire, so it would not give away any information the imperials didn't already possess. It also had that rare blend of expendable and invulnerable that made for the perfect transport, no big loss if it was destroyed yet somehow always managing to survive. The _Falcon_ was still in _Home One_ 's hangar, the selected passengers still boarding, Han and Chewbacca still making some last minute repairs.

When the codes came in it was time to get going, and Han finished his work on the cockpit's consoles. "Okay, we're about as ready to go as we're ever going to be. Everyone strap in and we'll be underway."

Although a large complement of rebel soldiers had boarded the _Falcon_ , they were superfluous and they knew it. Only Luke was required to make the trip, but Leia insisted that he not do this alone. Aang and his friends also insisted on coming along, and they were certainly welcome on this mission. They took the more comfortable seats inside the _Falcon_ , waiting for the ship to take off and get them closer to home. No one was in the mood to talk as the ship took off, as this was not the time for idle conversation.

The _Falcon_ flew out of the hangar, flying across the gap between _Home One_ and the _Executor_. Han kept the pace slow and steady, expecting and searching for any sign of attack, yet it didn't seem to be there. Instead there was a pair of imperial shuttles coming out of the _Executor_ 's hangar, flying over to meet the _Falcon_ halfway across the gap, escorting the old freighter to its destination. Han didn't like the sight of those shuttles beside his ship, even if he knew they were unarmed. He kept one hand on the hyperdrive control the entire time, right up until the _Falcon_ was flying to the _Executor_ 's hangar for a landing.

By then they were fully committed, unable to make the jump to hyperspace while the entire view was filled by the _Executor_. Inside the hangar there was a space reserved for the _Falcon_ and the escorts, and Han had his ship land as gracefully as possible. When the _Falcon_ touched down he could see a legion of stormtroopers standing at attention, two halves facing the middle and leaving a clear path in between. It was worrying to see them in front of his ship, as well as all the TIE Fighters and bombers behind the stormtroopers, taking up the space the _Falcon_ would need to turn around for a quick getaway.

Once the _Falcon_ had come to a complete stop, Luke stood up and walked toward the exit. "Here we are, the moment of truth."

Aang and his friends were right behind him. "Let's see what Vader wants with you."

The rebel soldiers were first to exit the _Falcon_ , marching out in twin rows to match the stormtroopers, creating an aisle in between for everyone else. Luke came out next, holding his head up high and keeping his gaze forward, putting on a show of confidence. Aang was right behind him, with Katara on his right and Sokka on his left, Toph pulling up the rear. They were following Luke's example and trying to look like they were in complete control of the situation, even if that couldn't be further from the truth.

Standing at the far end of the rows of stormtroopers was Darth Vader, his sights solely on Luke and ignoring everyone else. He stood with his arms crossed, the automatic breathing being the only sound he made. The imperial officers behind him were purely superfluous, a formality for the sake of appearances. Vader did notice the others walking behind Luke, not invited but not unwelcome either, something for the help to take care of while he tended to more important matters. He waited until Luke was standing right in front of him, and in times like this Vader wished he could still smile.

"Welcome aboard," Vader said. He held his hands apart in an inviting gesture. "We have much to discuss."

* * *

Meanwhile, a small sleek ship coasted into the system.

It had spent the better part of a week flying at sublight speed, having exited hyperspace beyond the range of the _Executor_ 's scanners to avoid detection. The lone woman aboard had spent the time in deep meditation, using a state of bliss to allow time to pass by without her notice. When the ship reached the third planet's orbit she returned to full consciousness, well rested and ready to take manual control of the ship. She sat in the pilot's chair and looked through the windshield, seeing the blue world filling up most of the view.

Passive sensors reported the _Executor_ 's location, away from the orbit it was supposed to maintain around the planet. There should have been a couple of Star Destroyers here, but they were conspicuously absent as well. Then the rebel ship appeared on sensors, and the reason for her deployment here became crystal clear. Defection was at work here, someone high in the ranks willing to work with those rebel scum, perhaps even at the very top of the military. That could not be tolerated, and correcting this sort of thing was a task for the Emperor's Hand.

Mara Jade changed course, setting her ship's path toward the _Executor_. "Vader will not be happy with you Ozzel, using his ship for insurrection."

Of course, it wasn't going to be as simple as cutting off the admiral's head. That would simply sow chaos and dissent in the ranks, which would only create more traitors sympathetic to the rebellion. No, instead she would have to discredit everyone involved in this conspiracy, and then execute them as an example to everyone else. That meant getting aboard the _Executor_ and uncovering its secrets, all the while without giving away her investigation. No one would notice one extra person amidst the thousands aboard the ship, posing as just another member of the crew.

Just so long as she didn't let anyone see her lightsaber.

* * *

Walking through the ship proved quite illuminating, for Toph at least.

It seemed the imperials still hadn't developed countermeasures for her method of perceiving the world around her, or at least hadn't applied them to this particular ship. Still, the sheer scale of it was a limiting factor, and the farthest she could see was a dozen decks down. Even she had limits, though she would never admit it, and the secrets aboard this ship could easily be beyond the limits of her sight. But what she did see was worth the walk, and certainly shed light on the mood shared amongst the ship's crew.

They were certainly not happy about this mission they had been pressed into, judging by the passive-aggressive vibe she got from their gestures. They wanted nothing to do with deals involving the rebellion, but had no other choice but to follow orders. There were the distinct signs of fear in nearly everyone aboard the ship, kept under the surface but there nevertheless, forced to comply under the threat of reporting directly to Darth Vader. It certainly explained why the corridors ahead were empty of people, no one wanted to be directly in his path.

And then there was what Toph saw within Darth Vader, hidden from everyone else under that fearsome exterior. That complicated mesh of man and machine, entire limbs replaced with metal and wires, mechanisms embedded in the torso in place of organs, their functions complex but their purpose simple. They were there to keep Vader alive, for what little organic bits remained were incapable of sustaining life. If only the machines weren't refined to unfathomable purities, if only they had some bits of earth inside, it would have been so simple to metalbend him to pieces.

Such thoughts were interrupted when the group arrived in a large meeting room, which had a lovely view of the hangar through a long window. Vader led the group inside, Luke was right behind him, while Aang and his friends were last inside. The stormtrooper escort stayed outside, and took posts standing guard by the door. A long table with chairs was at the center of the room, but Vader ignored them and walked toward another door at the far end. Right before reaching it Vader turned around, facing Luke in particular and everyone else in general.

"If your friends would remain here, we can speak in private, Luke," Vader said. With merely a hand gesture the door opened, a casual use of the Force for demonstration. "Please, come."

Luke saw the concerned looks everyone else had, and he could certainly understand them. "It will be alright. We're just going to talk, that's all."

"Yeah, sure," Aang said. "We'll be fine out here until you're done."

Sokka watched and waited until Vader and Luke had gone through the door and closed it behind them, then turned around to face everyone else. "Okay Toph, what can you see from here?"

"A whole lot of people scurrying about," Toph answered. She leaned back against the table, putting her hands on the edge. "We need to be careful. It's obvious they do not agree with whatever metal-head wants to do here."

"No stepping out of line, got it," Katara said. "What else do you see?"

Toph crouched and punched the floor, creating stronger vibrations to extend her sight and increase the clarity of the picture in her mind. "Okay, it's at the very edge, twenty or so decks down, but I think I see waterbenders down there."

"Could be prisoners," Sokka guessed. Then he looked at Aang and Katara. "Or are they collaborators? Like the ones you two saw on that ice planet?"

"Not sure," Toph admitted. She punched the floor again to get the better picture again. "Could be either, could be both, I can barely see them from here. The finer details aren't getting through."

"Then we need a closer look," Aang said. He sat down on the floor, legs crossed, and put his fists together. "If anyone asks, tell them I'm meditating."

"It wouldn't be untrue, technically," Katara said. She sat in a chair close to Aang, looking down at that bald head of his. "I mean, you do have to meditate to do what you're about to do."

Aang nodded, and then closed his eyes. "I don't know when I'll be back. This ship is huge. I might get a little lost."

"Take your time," Sokka said. He pointed a thumb over his shoulder at the door. "It looks like we'll be waiting for them a while anyway."

* * *

The next room was smaller than Luke expected, and barely furnished as well. The only thing of note was a desk with a chair and a computer terminal, likely hooked up to the ship's most secure databases and only accessible by a few select individuals for private use. Lights came on when Darth Vader entered, the door closed by itself after Luke went inside. It was just the two of them now, and Vader turned around to look at Luke properly. For a moment they stood and looked at each other in silence, judging each other in both appearances and presence in the Force.

"You have become more powerful than I imagined," Vader said, finally breaking the silence. "The Force is strong with you. Obi Wan has taught you well."

Luke wasn't about to correct him. "Yes, I learned a lot from him before he died. It has been a challenge to continue learning about the Force without him."

"You are already on the path to becoming a Jedi," Vader said. "The Emperor is correct to fear you. He is well aware of your potential. He knows that you could become more powerful than him one day."

"Is that why you called me here?" Luke asked. He crossed his arms, one hand subtly reaching for his lightsaber. "Did the Emperor order you to eliminate me first?"

"No," Vader said. He noticed the surprise Luke felt at that statement. "He would have me turn you to the Dark Side of the Force, to bring you into his thrall and serve him. But I believe that would be a waste of your potential, serving a master that is unworthy of such an apprentice."

Luke relaxed a bit, but only just a bit. "I am told you are the Emperor's most trusted servant. Am I to believe that you are disobeying him?"

"Even the Emperor's vision has its limits," Darth Vader said. He turned toward the computer terminal, using the Force to turn it on and access his private files. "There are powers in this galaxy that even he is unaware. This world in particular is beneath his notice, and its secrets can be his downfall."

A hologram appeared in the room, filling much of the space with a display of Earth. The planet slowly rotated, allowing Luke to see all of it in turn, the western hemisphere coming first. Most of the hologram was colored in shades of blue, with green symbols marking imperial bases and troop deployments. White symbols marked local settlements and cities, and black symbols were places that still had resistance. Then there were yellow symbols as well, their purpose not clear at first glance, two in particular situated at the poles.

Luke pointed at both symbols, first the one in the south and then the one in the north. "Are those what I think they are?"

Vader looked at the poles. "I see you are aware of them, these spirits that inhabit the ends of this world. We know very little about them, but they are unlike anything I have ever encountered before."

Remembering his own experience with spirits, and how badly it had gone, Luke nodded to Vader. "And why should I help you in this matter? It goes beyond the terms of our little truce."

"I would hope we could go beyond a mere truce," Vader said. "You and I could bring this war to an end. Surely you have realized this by now. Together, not even the Emperor would be able to stop us."

That sounded a bit like insurrection to Luke. "Do you really expect me to believe that you would openly rebel against the Emperor?"

"He knows it will happen eventually," Vader said. With a hand gesture he used the Force to turn off the hologram. "I'm sure he has already sent an agent here to investigate. It is only a matter of time."

* * *

Aang found it strange to separate from his body without going to the spirit world, keeping his own spirit in the physical world. He simply stood up and out of his physical body, turning around to look down at it, getting a chill down his spine at seeing himself there. It was also strange to see no reaction from his friends, since they couldn't see his spirit moving around. Even stranger than that was passing his hand through the table, as if either it or he was just a hologram. Still, it was proof that he could move about freely and unseen, and now he could get to work finding out what was really going on aboard this ship.

" _Alright, looks like this is working,"_ Aang said. There was no reaction to his voice, confirmation that he could not be heard as well. _"Wish me luck you guys."_

Aang turned away from the others and walked to the outer door, cautiously phasing through it to reach the other side. He found half a dozen stormtroopers guarding this side, none of them reacting to his presence. He waved a hand in front of a stormtrooper's helmet, just to be sure, and he was satisfied with the lack of reaction. Aang turned and walked away from the stormtroopers, heading down a corridor and deeper into the ship. He had no idea where he was going of course, only that it would surely have been off limits to him otherwise.

He started sprinting through the corridors, not needing to worry about exhausting himself, wanting to see as much as he could in as little time as possible. He passed by stormtroopers patrolling the corridors, along with a variety of droids scattered around the ship. Aang followed one of the little black box droids for a while, even when it entered a small hatch in a corner, Aang phasing through the wall to follow. It seemed like these little mouse droids could go just about anywhere, perfect for mobile surveillance without being too intrusive on ship operations.

As he wandered the corridors Aang caught pieces of conversations between patrolling stormtroopers, hearing casual gossip that didn't mean much to him. A pair of them went into a turbolift, and Aang followed for a ride. Inside the turbolift, Aang suddenly found himself floating in a shaft, having phased through the ceiling as the lift descended and left him behind. A little embarrassed, Aang willed himself to descend the shaft, going down about twenty decks before stopping. There he phased through a set of doors, emerged into a new corridor on this deck, and resumed his exploration.

There was tighter security on this deck, stormtroopers standing guard at every door, checking identities of everyone passing through. Most of the people going about their business appeared to be researchers and scientists, along with a few military officers overseeing operations. Aang casually walked past them all, head turning back and forth to look at everything, until his gaze settled on one door up ahead. A group of officers were passing through it, and Aang followed as the door was closed, which would have bisected him if he hadn't been intangible.

Aang got in front of the officers, taking a front row view of what they had come to see. "Oh dear…"

They were looking through a two way mirror that spanned the room, letting them see but also being unseen from the other side. Through it they could see a vast training hall, spanning three decks and well over three hundred feet long, having a view from above to look down on all the people inside. Hundreds of people were there, all in basic black uniforms, but with a colored stripe on the shoulder. They were practicing a variety of forms, most of which were familiar to Aang, knowing exactly what they were for.

" _Benders,"_ Aang muttered, surprised and alarmed by their number. _"And they're following orders?"_

That's what it looked like, given the pleased expressions of the officers behind Aang. They were observing the benders going through the forms, with three main varieties and several minor ones mixed in. They were a match for three of the four elements, fire, water, and earth on display, though with the ship beyond Earth orbit only fire was working. Then Aang noticed the stormtroopers among the benders, working together in the creation of new tactics, combining the bending forms with imperial positioning and battle formations.

It was a gut-wrenching sight for Aang to behold, seeing benders working with imperials seemingly voluntarily. Some part of him realized he should have expected this, for it explained the waterbenders in stormtrooper armor back on Hoth. Resistance to imperial occupation could only go for so long before some people would lose faith in the cause, and eventually some would collaborate with their oppressors out of desperation. Aang had seen it happen back in the Hundred Year War a couple times, and had heard stories of it happening plenty of times prior to his awakening from the iceberg.

The officers had been talking with a training instructor for a few minutes now, but Aang only just started paying attention to the conversation. "…this particular detachment should be ready for deployment by the end of the month. If blue squad is any indication, we should be able to counter the rebellion's benders by year's end."

One officer checked a datapad, glanced at a report on this blue squad, and he put the pad away. "That's a bold claim. The benders blue squad encountered were far more skilled than they were." He glanced through the two-way mirror. "And I still don't see anyone confirmed to use the fourth element."

"Yes, unfortunately we have not been able to find anyone with control of the wind." The training instructor checked his records to be certain. "Well… aside from the one among Lord Vader's guests."

" _I'm right here,"_ Aang said. No response of course, which had Aang shaking his head. _"Never mind."_

Another officer did not like the instructor's remark. "I still don't see what he hopes to gain from this 'truce' of his. We should seize the rebel envoy and destroy their ship while it sits out there."

"I guess Vader thinks he can accomplish more than that," the first officer said. He shrugged and turned look at another part of the training hall. "We'll just have to wait and see what he has in mind."

Silence came over the room, everyone watching the benders below and comparing them to traditional stormtrooper training. Aang figured he wasn't going to get anything else from these people, and so he casually walked through the two-way mirror and into the training hall. He floated for the first few feet, and then he willed himself to descend, getting a closer look at the benders below. Though the people down here were determine to meet the expectations made of them, none of them seemed particularly enthusiastic about it, as if this was the only option left for them to survive.

Aang kept on going down, went past everyone there, phasing through the floor to enter the deck bellow. He ended up in what he assumed to be the bowels of the ship, what with all the plumbing and assorted distribution systems lining the corridors. Very few people were down here, only maintenance workers tending to essential ship systems, too busy doing their jobs to notice anything out of the ordinary. Aang walked across this deck, phasing through walls every so often, wondering what might be hidden down here.

But then he came across something odd, or rather someone odd. There was a woman sneaking around the ship, despite wearing a uniform that suggested she belong here. Her long red hair seemed strange too, though Aang figured that was because he rarely saw anyone with that hair color. She did seem to know where she was going, taking turns without checking for where they may or may not lead, like she had a guide in her mind to give her the correct path. Aang followed her, figuring that if this mystery woman was after something, he might as well see what it was.

After a couple of turns the woman stopped moving, turned around, and stared into the empty space behind her. "Alright, whatever you are, why are you following me?"

Aang stopped in his tracks, his eyes meeting the mysterious woman's gaze. _"You can see me?"_


	38. The Emperor's Hand

Chapter 38: The Emperor's Hand

Mara Jade didn't know what she was looking at. It was new to her, that much was certain.

It seemed like a teenage boy, dressed in simple monk's robes, although tattered in places from extensive wear and tear. That shaved head of his had a tattoo in the shape of an arrow, pointing down and drawing the eye to the boy's face. However, the boy was transparent, and what Mara could see of him was in shades of blue. But this was no hologram, lacking the wavering static that accompanied such communications. The boy's feet were sticking through the floor, though that didn't seem to bother him, not as much as being spotted that is.

"Yeah, I see you," Mara said, answering this apparition's question. "And I'll ask you one more time. Why are you following me?"

The boy held up his hands in a peaceful gesture. _"I happened to be nearby, saw you sneaking around, and I wondered what you were looking for?"_

Not accepting that answer, Mara drew a blaster and pointed at the boy's face. "You're a bad liar."

She pulled the trigger, fired a blaster bolt, and saw it pass right through the boy's head. Still, the boy instinctively recoiled from the shot, even if it didn't seem to do anything to him. Mara shot again just to be sure, and the second blaster bolt went through him just like the first, hitting a wall further down this maintenance corridor. The boy checked himself over for any injury, and he seemed relieved to be unharmed. He even let out a long sigh, though Mara didn't feel any breeze coming from it, and it seemed he didn't need to breath but did so out of habit.

" _Okay, that was uncalled for."_ The boy put his hands on his waist, and he made a cheeky smile. _"Can we start over? Let's start over. I'm Aang. What's your name?"_

Mara was sure what to make of this, someone she just shot at wanting to play nice. She wasn't about to be honest with him, whatever this Aang was. "It's Chiara. Now why are you really down here?"

Aang sighed again and shrugged his shoulders. _"Oh you know, skulking around where I don't belong, seeing things I'm not supposed to be seeing. It's really easy when no one can see or hear you and can walk through walls."_

Imagining all the ways that sort of ability could be useful in her line of work, Mara certainly wanted to know more. "Please, do go on."

* * *

Leaning back in a chair set against the long table, Sokka kept an eye on the inner door and the other eye on Aang's body. "What's taking them so long?"

It had been well over an hour since Luke went into the next room and Aang left his body, every minute of it spent waiting for something bad to happen. Service droids had brought in food and drinks for everyone, though only Toph had bothered to indulge in such pleasantries. Neither Sokka nor Katara were in any mood to eat, and Toph eagerly took the portions they weren't using. Katara's attention was fixed solely on Aang, who still looked perfectly peaceful meditating on the floor. So far no one had disturbed him, but it was going to be very awkward if they needed to leave in a hurry.

"I have no idea," Toph answered. She was sitting in a chair sideways with her back against the table. "I can't track where his spirit form or whatever it is, no vibrations to tell me where he is."

"We can't wait forever," Sokka complained.

That was when Aang's eyes opened, he stood up, and he felt a slight cramp in his legs. "Hey guys, how have things been?"

"Boring," Katara answered. "Still, good to have you back. Did you find anything?"

"Plenty," Aang said. He looked around the room for a second, checking for anyone that might be listening in. "I got a good look at the place."

"Tell us later," Toph interrupted. She had just stood up straight, facing the inner door. "They're coming out of there."

"Good timing," Sokka said, glancing at Aang.

The inner door opened, and all eyes were drawn to it. Luke walked out first, heading over to the others to stand next to them. "Sorry to keep you guys waiting. There was a lot to talk about."

Darth Vader came out after Luke, and the door closed behind him. "We have come to an understanding. Skywalker can inform you of the details."

"Wait a second?" Sokka said. "That can't be everything. Weren't we supposed to be involved in the negotiations too?"

"Only Skywalker was required to come," Vader said. "You came of your own accord. You only have yourselves to blame for disappointment."

"I think we should go over this in private," Luke suggested. He turned back toward Vader. "I trust it won't be a problem if we return to the _Falcon_?"

"Of course not," Vader said. "You may do as you please."

Toph wanted to make a witty retort, but noticed Vader eyeing her right now, and she got the sense he recognized her. "What are you looking at?"

Vader crossed his arms, saying nothing.

With nothing left to deal with here, Luke and the others left the meeting room and walked through the ship. There was a stormtrooper escort of course, but only until they had reached the hangar. The _Falcon_ was still there, right where they left it, Han and Chewbacca still inside and making internal repairs. The rebels sent along with them were standing guard at the entrance ramp, rather bored but doing their best not to show it. They were relieved to see Luke and the others return unharmed, having worried about the very real possibility of betrayal.

Once they were inside they found Han walking through the _Falcon_ , hands wiping off grease with a dirty rag. "About time you guys got back. Can we get the hell out of here already?"

"Afraid not," Luke answered. "We've got a lot to talk about."

"Yeah, we need to compare notes," Sokka said.

"Can we get a hold of Leia first?" Aang asked. "I need to see if she knows anyone going by Chiara."

* * *

Back to being alone again, Mara Jade continued with her mission.

In the maintenance corridors of the ship she found the redundant communication servers, having bypassed a variety of security measures to get there. Records of every transmission sent and received by the _Executor_ could be found here, if one had appropriate access codes. She had special codes given by the Emperor himself, allowing her access equal to that of a Grand Admiral. Mara used her codes at a terminal, disabled the relevant security systems that would sound any alarms, and accessed the communication logs from the last few weeks.

Mostly dry reading, but important nevertheless, and Mara took her time going through it all. There was plenty of internal chatter about where the _Executor_ had been deployed, though many of the crew were given very few details and wanted to know what was really going on. The senior staff officers were well aware of the details, and they were not happy. This so-called truce was something they didn't want to participate in, and Mara was furious that such a truce was even considered. The communications made no secret of who brought it about, the one person who could override everyone else in the military.

Darth Vader had arranged the whole thing.

There had to be some mistake, or so Mara thought at first. This was Darth Vader, public enforcer of the Emperor's will, the single greatest terror and most faithful servant of the Empire since its creation. He had more rebel kills to his name than anyone else, and it was his personal mission to exterminate the rebellion. It seemed impossible for someone like him to try to make a deal with the rebels, whatever he hoped to gain being beyond Mara's understanding. Something was clearly wrong here, something big enough to sway Vader's judgement, something Mara needed to discover.

Yet she couldn't access Vader's communications, for his authorization was greater than Mara's access codes. There were messages sent from him on file, but they remained encrypted and unreadable. She could still download the files, though there would be a record of her actions in the server. In any event she wasn't going to be unnoticed here, even with security measures disabled. Someone was going to notice her activities eventually, and she was going to have to leave before someone came down here to investigate.

Mara downloaded the logs into a transfer drive and removed it, then turned and walked away from server. "This calls for a more personal touch."

* * *

" _I'm sorry Aang, we don't have any record of a Chiara."_

Leia was speaking through a hologram projected by R2-D2, her transmission relayed through the _Falcon_. The droid was projecting the hologram into the small living space aboard the ship, and everyone else inside was sitting around it. Aang had asked Leia to look up the name Chiara in the rebel database, or at least the records available aboard _Home One_. It had only taken a few minutes for the computer to search the database, but found nothing. No names, no aliases, no places or things, nothing that could hint at who or what this Chiara was.

"At least you looked," Aang said. Still, he couldn't hide is disappointment. "I couldn't ask for more."

" _However, this might be a good thing,"_ Leia said. _"Whoever this woman is, if she is secretly working against the Empire, it could be a sign of dissent within the ranks."_

"I wouldn't bet on that," Han said, standing to the side and listening in. "For all you know this could all be some elaborate trick."

" _We're already in the ideal position for a double-cross,"_ Leia pointed out. _"Adding another layer of mystery just seems excessive."_

"I don't think this is some kind of trick," Katara said. "Aang was in spirit form, and he came across this woman by chance. If Vader could have set this up and make it look like an accidental meeting, then we have far bigger problems than him trying to deceive us."

Luke glanced at Aang with a curious look. "You're going to have to show me how you do that."

"Later," Aang promised, facing Luke in turn. "That's all I got about the mystery lady. How did your meeting with Vader go?"

"Not how I thought it would," Luke admitted. He hesitated to continue, as if not certain of this himself. "He might be lying about this, I'm not entirely sure, but he said he wanted to overthrow the Emperor."

Just about everyone did a double take. "What?!"

"I know, it sounds crazy," Luke said. "Vader claims he isn't powerful enough to do it by himself. That part sounds true. And he isn't entirely sure that having me at his side would do it either."

" _He can't really expect you to ally with him?"_ Leia questioned. _"It was trouble enough just to set up this meeting. A long-term Alliance like that would be impossible to create, let along keep long enough to dethrone the Emperor."_

"There's more going on here than we think," Sokka realized.

"I'm getting to that," Luke said. He took out a transfer drive and plugged it into R2-D2, and the droid projected a hologram of Earth. "Vader claims there is a power on Earth that could allow us to bring down the Emperor. That sphere Sokka and I came across is part of it."

"Sounds like spirit shenanigans," Aang figured. He got up and took a closer look at the hologram, noting the two symbols placed at the poles. "I presume Vader found another one at the North Pole?"

"Yes," Luke confirmed. "And he said they can be affected by the Force."

"This sounds like a very bad idea," Katara interrupted. "Spirits have brought us nothing but trouble. They never lifted a finger against the Empire, even when the freaking _Avatar_ begs for help, and stole Sokka away seemingly for laughs. If they're involved in whatever scheme Vader is cooking up, it cannot be good for us."

"I've got to agree with her," Aang said. He saw almost everyone else nod in agreement. "If I had to guess, I'd say Vader can't get whatever he wants from the spirits on his own."

"Could be why he needs you," Sokka said, looking at Luke. "And once he doesn't need you anymore, I wouldn't be surprised if he double-crosses you."

" _Now that sounds more like the Vader we know,"_ Leia said. _"He went through a lot of trouble just to get you here. This thing he needs you for, what he thinks could let him overthrow the Emperor, I'm willing to bet it would be a disaster if he decided to use it against us."_

"We're still not sure what exactly it is he wants," Aang said. "All we have right now is hearsay and guesswork. We need more information."

"Definitely," Sokka said. He took a moment to think, put a hand to his chin, and then turned toward Luke. "I think we should play along with Vader's scheme for now. Figure out what he wants with the spirits. Aang, you're the only one that can go wherever you please. Leave your body here and get back to skulking around the place in spirit form."

"Sounds like a plan," Aang said. He got comfortable where he was sitting, getting back into position for meditation. "While I'm in there, I'll see if Chiara has anything to add."

* * *

When Admiral Ozzel returned to his quarters after a very long day, he knew he wasn't alone.

All of his things were right where he left them, but a keen eye could tell when something had been moved and put back in its proper place. Someone had gone through his things, and had been quite thorough in covering their tracks. Ozzel slowly walked into the room, his eyes looking for someone looking back, his body moving like nothing was out of the ordinary. He went to his private computer terminal, pressed the button to turn it on, but didn't sit in the chair nearby. Instead he stood there in silence, waiting for his unknown visitor to come into the light.

Sure enough, she appeared from behind, her steps nearly silent as she drew her blaster. "Admiral…"

Ozzel sighed, turned around, and seeing the red headed woman confirmed his worst suspicions. "So… the Emperor's Hand has come to claim my life. Can't say I'm surprised. It certainly looks like I've betrayed the Empire."

"It does look that way," Mara said. She kept her blaster aimed at Ozzel's head, but didn't pull the trigger. "But then, looks are often deceiving. It wasn't your decision to broker a truce with the rebels, now was it? That was all Vader's doing, against your better judgement."

"You know Vader as well as I do," Ozzel said. "Anyone that defies him tends to turn up dead."

"That is a bad habit of his," Mara said. She slightly lowered her blaster, aiming for center of mass instead of the head. "But this is a new extreme for him. He would have you and your entire crew give their lives for treasonous orders, or have you all killed for defying those orders."

"And the simple appearance of disloyalty to the Emperor has him send people like you to kill us anyway," Ozzel said. He glanced at the blaster, and then met Mara's gaze proper. "My life is forfeit regardless, Vader has seen to that. Question is, are you going to take it now, or later?"

Mara let silence reign for a moment, staring into Ozzel's eyes, until she lowered her blaster. "Later, I think. I want to find out why Vader is behaving this way. What could possibly be so important that he would defy the Emperor like this?"

"Two things, I believe," Ozzel said. "The first is this planet, Earth. It is unique, in many respects, and it may be why he set up this truce here. Second is a particular rebel pilot he's taken a fancy to, who seems to have consumed his attention as of late, this young man called Skywalker."

"Skywalker," Mara repeated. It seemed to remind her of something, though she couldn't quite place it. "I will need to have a chat with him."

* * *

Luke had barely stepped off the _Falcon_ when he felt Vader approaching.

He didn't see him yet, still a few dozen meters away with several bulkheads in the way, but on his way to the hangar nevertheless. Luke stopped and stood in front of the _Falcon_ , waiting for Vader to arrive, his eyes following the direction of Vader's movement. He took it as a sign of his progress with the Force, being able to sense others like Ben could. While he waited Luke glanced around the hangar, observing crewmen preparing Vader's personal TIE Fighter, as well as an imperial shuttle next to it. It seemed they would be ready for takeoff before Vader would arrive, and Luke suspected where they would be going.

After a few minutes of waiting Luke saw some doors open. "Vader, I didn't realize you wanted to leave this soon."

Vader walked over to Luke and stood in front of him. "I saw no need to waste time. You are ready for the task ahead of us. We can depart as soon as you wish."

Luke glanced at the TIE Fighter and the shuttle, thinking about the two points of interest Vader had shown him. "Which pole are we going to first, North or South?"

"I will be travelling to the Northern Pole," Vader specified. "The Southern Pole is for you. We must tend to both places at the same time. Only together can they be opened."

That explained why more than one ship was being prepared, and Luke glanced back at the _Falcon_. "I would like to bring a few companions with me."

"If you insist, though they will not be necessary," Vader said. "Bring as many as you wish."

Luke tapped a wrist communicator. "Han, can you send Katara and Sokka out here."

" _Yeah, sure,"_ Han said through the radio.

In just a few moments the two siblings came out of the _Falcon_ , and Katara stopped next to Luke. "What's going on?"

"We're taking a little trip," Luke answered. He turned toward Sokka in particular. "It's to that frozen forest beneath the Everstorm. Are you up for getting a little payback on the spirits?"

Sokka spotted stormtroopers loading heavy weaponry into the shuttles. "Only if I get to use one of those."

Luke looked over at the stormtroopers and their various weapons, a chaingun blaster in particular catching his eye. "I think that can be arranged."

"You think those will work on spirits?" Katara asked.

"Bound to do more than my sword did," Sokka figured. He pointed a thumb at the lightsaber on Luke's belt. "That thing made spirits disintegrate altogether. Surely enough blaster bolts ought to do it too."

"Only one way to find out," Luke said. He turned and started walking toward the shuttle. "Come on. We're leaving right away."

As they walked over to the shuttle Luke left a quick message for Han, letting him know what was going on. It wouldn't do to just leave without letting the others know where they were going, especially when the imperials were providing the transportation. Han was going to have to relay the message to Leia, and she would do what she could to track the shuttle from _Home One_ , taking every precaution she would be able to think of for this situation. He would have to tell Aang as well, whenever he would come back from another spirit walk.

* * *

" _There you are! I've been looking everywhere!"_

Mara heard Aang's voice before she saw him, and she turned to see him phasing through a wall. She had been walking down a long corridor at the time, heading toward the hangar, still having some distance to go before she could get there. But she was willing to stop for Aang, as it seemed that he had been trying to find her for a while now. Mara couldn't blame him for having trouble finding her, she had been covering a lot of ground rather quickly, and that was a small fraction of this massive ship. At least he caught up with her while in transit, when he would not have been an awkward intrusion.

"I didn't think you'd be back this soon," Mara said. "Did something happen?"

" _Not exactly, no,"_ Aang said. _"My friends wanted to know a bit more about you. They didn't realize there was someone on the inside sneaking around this ship."_

"I try not to make myself well known," Mara said. She didn't like this line of conversation, and didn't want to be standing around waiting to get caught. "Look, I'm trying to get to the hangar. If you're going to be tagging along, at least be useful and scout ahead for me."

" _Yeah sure,"_ Aang said. He started walking in the right direction, knowing which way to go to get back to his body. _"What do you need to go there for?"_

Mara hesitated to answer, not wanting to give anything away, but this seemed like something a potential look-out ought to know. "Last I checked, Vader was going to meet someone down there. I would like to get there before they go anywhere else."

" _Okay,"_ Aang said. He found no problem with this, for it seemed like the best chance he might get to personally introduce her to his friends. _"I'll let you know if you're about to run into trouble."_

Aang went off ahead, phasing through a wall and disappearing from Mara's view. She resumed her walk through the corridor, picking up the pace after a brief stop, eyes constantly looking for anything that might slow her down. Every few minutes she would spot Aang phasing in and out of the corridor, checking both sides for stormtrooper patrols, sometimes stopping to alert her when their paths would intersect. Having forewarning allowed her to stop and hide when needed, until the patrols passed, and then she could resume without unnecessary delay.

Eventually the corridor led to an observation chamber overlooking the hangar, with a view two decks above the landing pads. From here one could see the entire hangar and every ship inside, the _Millennium Falcon_ being the odd one out amongst all the imperial vessels. Mara stood next to the wide window, quickly looking over the hangar, searching for anyone that didn't belong here. She spotted Vader immediately, him being unmistakable anywhere, talking with a young man she hadn't seen before, who she figured had to be Skywalker.

Aang phased through a wall and walked up to her. _"I think we're a bit too late. It looks like Vader is about to leave."_

"Looks that way," Mara said. She watched Vader board his TIE Fighter, but was surprised to see Skywalker board a shuttle instead. "Wait, why are they not leaving together?"

" _Hang on, I'll check,"_ Aang said.

Mara watched Aang phase through the window, float down to the _Falcon_ , disappearing inside that junk heap of a ship. It had Mara wondering if anyone else could see him, or if Aang could choose to become corporeal wherever he wished and speak with people in the flesh. Either way it would save Mara the time to look up shuttle logs, assuming Aang did know someone that could tell him where the shuttle was going. Then she saw him reappear from the ship, float back up to the window and phase through it again.

" _They're going to Earth,"_ Aang reported. He turned around in time to see the ships flying out of the hangar. _"Vader is going to the North Pole, and Luke is going to the South Pole."_

"This doesn't make any sense," Mara said. Still, it helped to learn Skywalker's first name. "Vader goes through this much trouble to meet this Luke, and now they split up. Why?"

" _My friends say they're doing something involving spirits,"_ Aang answered. _"Luke took two of them with him, the rest are still aboard our ship."_

"Wait, spirits?" Mara questioned. "You can't be serious."

" _You've been talking to my spirit form this entire time,"_ Aang said. _"And trust me, you don't want spirits involved in whatever you're doing. They're all a bunch of jerks."_

"I'll take your word on it," Mara said, making a mental note to research spirits later. "I need to find out what Vader is doing. You said the North Pole, right?"

" _Yes,"_ Aang confirmed. _"Do you have a ship to get down there?"_

"It would take too long to reach it," Mara admitted, as it was docked to an airlock on the opposite side of the _Executor_. "I need to leave now if I want any chance at catching up with Vader."

" _Well we can't take our ship,"_ Aang said. _"I'm fairly sure they'll shoot down the_ Falcon _if it tries to leave without warning."_

"We?" Mara questioned, looking Aang in the eye.

" _Of course,"_ Aang said. _"You, me, maybe Toph, if you're going after Vader you're going to need help."_

If she had been going after anyone else, Mara would have assured Aang that she never needed help. But this was Darth Vader, and it was only a matter of time before he realized she was on his trail. "Alright, if you insist, we'll take one of those."

Aang saw Mara pointing into the hangar, right at one of several TIE Bombers hanging on the wall. _"How many people can fit in one of those things? I plan on bringing my body along for this."_

"They're meant for two, but three can fit if you don't mind cramped spaces," Mara said. She looked around the hangar one more time, seeing plenty of options for a diversion. "Get your friend and wait outside your ship. When you get my signal, get inside the lowest bomber."

" _What's the signal?"_ Aang asked.

"Not sure yet," Mara said. "But you will know it when you see it."

* * *

"Yes, that's it… a little further… almost there… and… now."

Toph was making it much easier for Han to move a convoluted power coupling into place, having his entire arm buried in cables and support struts, unable to see what he was doing. Her vibration sight allowed Toph to see for him, enabling Han to remove and replace the power coupling without having to take the entire wall apart. It saved Han a whole day's worth of work, dealt with a minor problem that had been bugging him for a while, and gave him a whole new appreciation of the blind girl. Once the coupling was in place Han pulled his arm out, glad to finally have that bit of maintenance finished.

"Thanks for the help," Han said, replacing a panel to cover up the various components in the wall. "Given your way of looking at things, I'd say you have a bright future in engineering."

Toph smiled and put her back against the wall. "I'll have to think about that."

Then they heard rushed footsteps, and they saw Aang running into this curved corridor. "There you are. I hope you're ready to move."

"Well that was quick," Toph said. "You were just back a minute ago. What's going on?"

"We've got a chance to get down to Earth," Aang answered. "It's risky, we are going after Vader after all, but I think it will work."

"Count me out," Han said. "The _Falcon_ isn't going anywhere until we get the go ahead to return to _Home One_. I'm sure the imperials are just waiting for an excuse to shoot at us."

"Good thing we aren't taking the _Falcon_ ," Aang said. "Chiara is going to get one of the other ships out there. Once she gives the signal, we book it while everyone's distracted."

"What's the signal?" Toph asked.

"She didn't say," Aang answered. "So I want to get outside before it happens."

"Have fun with that," Han said. He started walking toward the cockpit. "I am going to make sure they know I have nothing to do with whatever is about to happen."

"Just tell Leia we're leaving," Aang said.

"Yeah, after you're gone," Han said, heading down the corridor. "I'm sure someone's listening in on every transmission we make. I'm not going to be the guy that tips them off."

Aang watched Han leave, and then he turned back to Toph. "Are you okay with coming along? We'd be in a tiny ship flying through space for a little while."

"Are you trying to make me not go with you?" Toph asked. She walked up close, smiled, and lightly hit Aang's shoulder. "Look, after coming to my rescue, of course I'll help with anything you want."

"Thank you," Aang said. "Come on, let's get outside."

Aang and Toph walked through the corridor, stopping only to pick up Aang's staff before heading out. They walked down the Falcon's entrance ramp, setting foot on the hangar floor. Outside they got some looks from stormtroopers and crewmen going about their day, some were wondering what they wanted, others thinking they were out to meet somebody. Aang and Toph stayed close to the _Falcon_ , and so they were left alone by everyone else. As long as they didn't stray too far that wouldn't change, at least until someone got too suspicious.

They had a few moments to stand and look around the hangar, watching the crewmen and stormtroopers at work. Most were tending to the imperial ships docked all over the place, maintaining the TIE Fighters and shuttles and other assorted vessels. Others were standing guard and watching the _Falcon_ , making sure no one made any unwanted moves. Aang waved at a couple of stormtroopers, but they didn't wave back, leaving Aang a little disappointed. He kept an eye on a TIE Bomber, waiting for the signal to take it.

An explosion seemed like a pretty good signal.

A cargo hauler at the far end of the hangar had been completely destroyed, its load of fuel going up in a massive fireball. Several shuttles and TIE Fighters nearby had been severely damaged, and debris had been ejected nearly as far as the _Falcon_. Crewmen responded immediately with fire control measures, needing to put out a massive inferno before it could consume the entire hangar. Stormtroopers worked to remove sensitive equipment from immediate danger, putting the safety of the ship first, ignoring all other concerns around them.

While almost everyone hurried toward the explosion, Toph noticed someone moving in the opposite direction. "That must be your mystery friend."

Aang turned in the direction Toph faced, spotting someone in stormtrooper armor, quickly noticing that it wasn't a good fit on her. "Makes sense to get a disguise."

No time to lose, Aang and Toph sprinted for the TIE Bomber. Now that no eyes were on them, no one tried to stop them. Chiara got to it first, leaping surprisingly high to reach the tiny ship mounted on the wall. When they were beneath the tiny ship Aang wrapped his arms around Toph, called on the only element that still worked here, firebending from his feet to add a boost to his leap. It was enough to just barely reach the tiny ship, both Aang and Toph needing to reach up to grab the bottom of an open hatch, holding on by their fingertips.

A stormtrooper helmet stuck out of the hatchway, and a gloved hand was offered. "So you weren't a figment of my imagination after all. Good to see you in the flesh."

She helped Aang and Toph up and into the TIE Bomber, closing the hatch once all three were inside. It was cramped inside the tiny ship, with only two seats inside for the pilot and gunner, barely enough space for a third person crouched in between. Chiara took the pilot seat, already starting the engine and igniting thrusters, nearly ready to detach the tiny ship from the wall. Aang settled into the gunner seat, though he didn't dare touch the controls. Toph crouched in the space between, dreading the inevitable moment when her world would shrink to just this tiny ship.

"Here we go," Chiara said. "Hold on to something."

The TIE Bomber detached from the wall, thrusters burning to keep it from hitting the floor. It turned toward the hangar doors, still open with only the atmospheric force fields in the way. It seemed that the explosion had been more than a distraction, having damaged the mechanisms for closing the hangar doors, ensuring that this would not be a short flight. The TIE Bomber turned and flew through the force fields, leaving the _Executor_ and entering empty space. Their departure had drawn attention, but it was already too late to stop them from leaving.

"So what's going to stop them from shooting us down?" Toph asked.

"Don't worry about it," Chiara said, her hands tightly gripped on the controls. "We'll be fine."

Still, she engaged the engines to maximum, and the TIE Bomber flew through space at breakneck speed. She had good reason for it, as the _Executor_ 's dorsal turrets activated and took aim at the stolen bomber. Thousands of blaster bolts were fired, much to the shock of the rebels aboard _Home One_ , surprised that they were not the target. Yet none of the blaster bolts met their mark, the closest shots missing by the smallest of margins. The tiny ship swerved left and right and up and down, as if following a route where blaster bolts would not be at any given moment, making it seem like the misses were all due to luck.

Once the tiny ship was out of range the turrets stopped firing, and Aang could finally let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. "That was close."

"Not really," Chiara said. She set a course for Earth, and the planet was quickly filling up the view. "Now if it had been Vader shooting at us, well that would be different."

"Why's that?" Toph asked, barely keeping herself from throwing up in here.

She chose not to answer, instead adjusting course for the planet's northern pole. "We should arrive in half an hour. Get some rest if you can. You're going to need it."


	39. Meeting the Mark

Chapter 39: Meeting the Mark

Luke kept silent throughout the flight, taking the time to calm his mind. He was sitting in the center of the imperial shuttle, surrounded by stormtroopers on escort duty, none of them particularly happy about their assignment. One didn't have to be force sensitive to feel the tension in the air, every mind wondering when this truce would come to an end. That was why Luke was meditating during the trip, so that the tension wouldn't overwhelm him. He wasn't going to let his composure break down because of an uncomfortable situation, not until actual danger presented itself.

Others kept themselves occupied in other ways. Sokka was holding the chaingun blaster in both hands, standing beside a couple of stormtroopers. "So like this…"

"Almost," one stormtrooper said. He raised the large weapon a bit with one hand, using the other to adjust Sokka's grip for better balance. "There, keep it steady like this, and you'll mow down anything in your path."

"Okay, I see it," Sokka said, understanding the proper way to hold this weapon. "Thanks."

"Just remember to turn the safety off before a fight starts," the stormtrooper advised. "It takes a few seconds to warm up, and that can make all the difference."

Meanwhile Katara was holding a waterskin in one hand, held her other hand above it, fingers moving in subtle gestures. Bit by bit water flowed out of the skin, a trickle at first but steadily increasing in volume, forming a variety shapes in accordance with her whims. Waterbending was slowly but surely returning to normal as the shuttle approached Earth, the gravitational push and pull between the planet and its moon filling the void within her. Katara's little experiment had the attention of a few stormtroopers, enjoying the little show she was putting on.

Katara glanced at the stormtroopers, and with a hand gesture she shaped the water into a little figurine that danced for them. "You know, sometimes it's the simple things that matter."

One stormtrooper tapped another's shoulder. "If that's simple, imagine what complex is."

"I'd rather not," the other stormtrooper whispered back. "We're going to be surrounded by ice and snow soon. So don't tick her off."

"Why thank you for the compliment," Katara said with a light laugh. She made the water figurine take a bow. "She thanks you too."

A little bit of laughter amongst the stormtroopers helped relieve the tension, and Luke couldn't help but smile. Moments like this had him wishing there was no war in the galaxy, where people could just be themselves and enrich each other's lives instead of taking them. It wasn't going to last, such things never did, but he could indulge himself just a little bit. He glanced out a window, seeing the black of space gradually give way to a light blue sky, daytime in this part of the world. They would be landing soon, and this moment of peace would be over.

The shuttle was coming down over Earth's southern hemisphere, crossing over the southern oceans before flying over frigid glaciers. The few settlements on the glacier passed by without notice, despite how much Sokka and Katara wanted to return home. Then the Everstorm appeared on the horizon, its mysterious green glow shrouding the terrain beneath it. It didn't seem so bad in the daytime, the light of the sun piercing the highest clouds, suppressing the darkness that permeated this place. Still, the shuttle wasn't going to fly right into it, as that would have been suicide.

Once the shuttle landed the doors were opened, allowing everyone to exit and walk onto freshly packed snow. A crude landing zone had been constructed here, made from local materials and with only the most essential facilities. There was a refueling station and a small barracks, barely enough for a temporary spaceport. More stormtroopers were waiting here, not happy about their assignment, but kept professional despite the cold. But it was a little infuriating to see the teenager emerge and pull back the hoods of winter clothes, like this was merely a pleasant day.

Sokka took in a deep breath, let it while looking at the sky, quickly realizing what part of the year it was. "It's been forever since having a midnight sun. Totally forgot it was supposed to be summer."

"I know, right?" Katara asked. She breathed in that cool summer air of the South Pole, paradise compared to the harsh nights of Hoth. "It's good to be back here again."

"We're not here to be nostalgic," Luke said, leaving the shuttle and walking behind the others. "We've got a job to do."

"Yeah," Sokka said. He hoisted up the chaingun blaster, hopefully another weapon to add to his space arsenal. "Let's get to it."

"Right this way," a stormtrooper said. He guided them over a set of speeder bikes, modified to resist the cold. "We'll take these into the storm."

Seven speeder bikes were available, plenty for getting twice as many people across the tundra. Luke took the one in the middle, and a stormtrooper rode passenger despite wanting to drive. Neither Sokka nor Katara were confident enough to drive one of these vehicles, allowing stormtroopers to do it for them, each riding passenger on separate speeder bikes. The remaining four bikes had two stormtroopers each, a pair on each side of the other three, riding along in standard V formation with Luke's bike in the lead.

They drove straight into the Everstorm, its eerie green glow spreading over the sky above them. Soon there was nothing left of the blue sky, only the bright light of the sun still pierced the swirling clouds. Still, all headlights were turned on for more light, and they took a cautious pace, leaving nothing to chance. The temperature dropped as they rode into the storm, requiring even Katara and Sokka to pull up their hoods to shield them from the frigid wind. Most of the ride went along without incident, and it only took half an hour to reach their destination.

The frozen forest remained at the very bottom of Earth, unchanged since Luke's previous visit. Here the light of the sun mixed with the green glow of the clouds, casting everything in varying shades of green. Everyone stopped at the edge of the frozen forest, unable to dispel a feeling of dread that came with this place. There was a path that led into the forest, marked by a makeshift campsite at the entrance, containing enough supplies for a small group to survive for weeks. The speeder bikes were parked here, and the weapons brought with them unloaded.

"Is there an advance squad?" Luke asked a stormtrooper.

"A small one," the stormtrooper answered. "They should be here."

"They probably got tired of waiting and went ahead," another stormtrooper added. "That, or they're at each other's throats again."

"Again?" Sokka questioned, getting off a speeder bike and walking over to the stormtroopers. "I thought you imperials were all buddy-buddy with each other."

"Vader brought in a couple of freelancers," the stormtrooper clarified. "He believed this mission required some local expertise."

Sokka looked around for signs of waterbending, only to see displaced permafrost and scorched terrain instead. "I have a bad feeling about this."

There was a sound in the distance, warped shrieks and wails that shook the soul, getting louder and heading their way. Every stormtrooper pulled out a blaster, some using two, and a couple hoisting chaingun blasters, all of them ready to fire. Luke took out his lightsaber and turned it on, holding it in one hand and a blaster in the other, casting blue light on everyone. Katara melted as much snow and ice as she could, turning it into rings of water around herself, ready to attack in any direction. The shrieks and wails kept getting louder, and dark shapes appeared in the clouds.

Luke pointed his lightsaber at them. "Here they come!"

Spirits emerged from the clouds, in the form of dark snakes and eels swimming through air, instantly recognized by Luke and Sokka. Hundreds of them were descending upon the group, blocking the view of the forest with their numbers. Sokka was first to fire, the chaingun blaster making several shots per second, accompanied by all the other blasters shooting at spirits. A barrage of blaster bolts struck them head on, blowing small holes where they hit, the edges burning and spreading outward. Still, the spirits kept coming, ignoring the damage they sustained.

Katara expanded her water rings around the stormtroopers, like a moat floating in the air, making the water flow at high speed. As the spirits closed in she snared many of them in the moat, the current pulling them off their course, directing them straight into blaster fire. But she could only snare so many at a time, and many more slipped past her defense. Stormtroopers regrouped around her, focusing their aim on spirits going after her, allowing her to focus on her waterbending. By now many spirits were disintegrating from taking too much blaster fire, but there were plenty more to replace them.

"Keep firing!" one stormtrooper ordered. "Keep them off the waterbender at all costs!"

By now the spirits were close enough for melee range, and Luke was swinging his lightsaber at every spirit within his reach. Every hit cut a spirit in half, the severed ends burning in blue plasma that spread in both directions, quickly devouring them and leaving only ethereal ash behind. Luke covered the flanks of the stormtroopers around Katara and Sokka, cutting down every spirit that got through their combined firepower. Even then, there were simply too many, threatening to overwhelm them with sheer numbers.

"There's too many of them!" one stormtrooper shouted. "We have to fall back!"

"I am not getting pulled into the spirit world again!" Sokka yelled.

One spirit almost made it through, barely cut down in time by Luke. "They're fighting a lot harder than last time. Something's got them spooked."

Katara was melting more ice and snow and adding the water to her flowing moat, widening its reach to snare more spirits. "Whatever it is, could it get here and scare them off?"

That was when the ground shook, and Sokka saw slabs of rock pierce the tundra. "We've got an earthbender nearby!"

The slabs of rock shattered and expelled dozens of shards upward, right into the mass of dark spirits descending onto the battle. The shards cut through the spirits easily enough, but they quickly mended and made the injured spirits whole again. More shards of rock were hurled at the spirits, even if it didn't inflict lasting damage. It did get their attention, and half of them split away from the group to attack this earthbender. That seemed to have been the point, as the rock shard attack was followed by a spine-chilling crackle in the air.

Sokka recognized that sound instantly. "Everyone get down!"

A bolt of lightning shot out from the forest, hitting a cluster of spirits simultaneously. On impact those spirits were disintegrated, and the electricity in the air arced away to hit more spirits. Another bolt of lightning followed and struck another cluster of spirits, then another and another, disintegrating several dozen spirits in a few short seconds. All that electricity spread from spirit to spirit, each like a link in long chains of lightning, clearing out the spirits that had gone after the earthbender. And more bolts of lightning were coming, the firebender conjuring them all too eager for an excuse for slaughter.

The spirits still attacking the group quickly realized what was going on, and they fled from the battle in nearly an instant. They appeared to vanish from this reality altogether, simply disappearing into the ether. Everyone kept firing blasters anyway, just in case the spirits had merely turned invisible, but the blaster bolts hit nothing but clouds. They stopped eventually, for the sake of conserving ammunition, though Luke kept his lightsaber on and Katara kept her water at the ready. Then they heard footsteps, and everyone turned to greet the new help.

Yet when the two middle aged men came into view, Sokka couldn't believe his eyes. "Oh you have got to be kidding me. How in the world did Vader convince these two to work together?"

"You know them?" Luke asked.

Katara nodded. "We weren't exactly friends, right Long Feng? Ozai?"

The two former leaders of their respective nations approached, though they put considerable distance between each other. They had cleaned themselves up plenty since being pressed into service, having restored their hair and beards to their respective styles, albeit trimmed shorter to conceal the parts that had been harvested in captivity. Both were thinner than Sokka and Katara remembered, the likely result of malnourishment for months on end, only recently brought back to physical fitness. They were wearing thick clothes for the cold, though Ozai seemed more comfortable than Long Feng.

"Of all the people in the world, why are you two here?" Long Feng asked.

"That's what I was going to ask," Katara said.

"You're welcome," Ozai said. He walked over and stopped just out of arm's reach from the stormtroopers. "Those things would have killed you all, or worse."

Luke kept his eye on Ozai, curious about who this man was and why he sounded very peculiar to him. "I see your abilities are quite effective against those spirits."

"It appears they are vulnerable to high amounts of energy," Ozai said. "Blasters, lightning, that glowing sword of yours, they tear apart the non-physical nature of our foe."

"Good to know," Sokka said. He glanced at Long Feng, but didn't take one eye off Ozai. "What about you? I don't see you using a blaster."

"I am here for support," Long Feng answered. With a couple of hand gestures he summoned small pieces of rock to him, molding them around his hands to make a pair of stone gloves. "It was assumed that earthbending would be required."

"Uh-huh…" Katara said, certain there was more than that. "Well, since you're the only earthbender here, we won't turn you away."

Luke finally turned off his lightsaber and put it away. "Alright, I presume you've scouted ahead. Please, lead the way."

"As you wish," Ozai said. He turned and walked along the edge of the frozen forest, heading for the path that led inside. "Right this way."

Everyone followed Ozai around the forest, reaching the entrance and then walking into the path. Freshly tilled dirt was crunched beneath their boots, evidence of Long Feng's work to clear out the path ahead of time. But he hadn't touched the ice-covered trees, their branches still crossing over everyone, blocking the view of the clouds in the sky. Ozai conjured a flame in his hand for light, stormtroopers turned on flashlights mounted on their blasters, and Luke turned on his lightsaber, everyone trying to pierce the darkness of this eerie place.

Luke walked ahead of the group, getting beside Ozai and holding his lightsaber beside the open flame. "Now what's your story? How did you get involved in all of this?"

"It wasn't by choice," Ozai said. He glanced at one of the trees, catching a glimpse of spirits keeping their distance. "I once ruled half of this world, and the rest was within my grasp. The first aliens put an end to my ambitions, and the Empire ended my rule altogether."

"They took you prisoner, I presume," Luke said. He saw spirits leaping from branch to branch, keeping ahead of the group. "Did they try reconditioning, or some other method of coercion?"

"I was subjected to experimentation for months on end," Ozai said. "They wanted to unlock the secrets of firebending. They failed of course, such things are beyond the Empire's understanding."

"And yet you are working with them?" Luke questioned.

"Vader came to me with an offer," Ozai answered. "It was that or continue with the experiments. The former option seemed far less painful."

"I see," Luke said. There was a small clearing up ahead, where tree branches just barely reached each other. "You realize you are still a prisoner, only outside of a cell now."

"Of course I do," Ozai said. He held up his free hand, signaling for everyone to stop. "At this point, I'm handling things one step at a time. The next step is dealing with those."

He pointed at the far end of the clearing, to a cluster of trees around a fork in the path, their frozen branches covered in dark spirits. The snakes and eels coiled around the branches and each other, all eyes on the group in front of them. Every stormtrooper aimed blasters at them, and the spirits scattered into the air. Half of them panicked and opened fire, shooting into the mass of spirits, blasting holes in many of them. The spirits swarmed around the clearing, evading blaster fire from the other stormtroopers, their shrieks making warped echoes throughout the forest.

Katara reformed the moat of fast moving water around everyone, but the spirits weren't converging on them yet. "What are they doing?"

Luke had his lightsaber at the ready, surrounded by all the blaster bolts whizzing by him. "Wait for it. They're up to something."

The dark spirits coiled around each other, coming together at three points around the group, merging together into a trio of larger monsters. Several dozen spirits to a monster, the new forms stood twenty feet tall, towering over everyone in a mockery of the human shape. They had long and spindly arms and legs, thick and hunched over torsos, oversized heads with nonexistent necks, these merged monsters brandished claws that were like curved swords. Heartless abominations staring with inhuman yellow eyes, these new versions of dark spirits closed in to attack.

Stormtroopers were still shooting at them, but the larger form allowed these spirits to absorb the blaster bolts with minimal damage. The little holes they made were quickly filled in, barely slowing down the dark spirit attack. They swiped and stabbed at the group, forcing the stormtroopers to scatter, and the sharp claws impaled the ground. One large spirit raked its claws through the dirt and snow, catching a stormtrooper by the leg, and sliced the limb clean off and in pieces. He fell to the ground in pain, screaming in agony, still shooting his blaster.

The same spirit moved to strike again, but was struck by a bolt of lightning. Electricity surged through the spirit's semi-corporeal form, stunning the spirit and stopping it from finishing off the wounded stormtrooper. Ozai turned around, charged another bolt in a mere second, and fired it at one of the other large spirits. The lightning stunned it at well, just before it could skewer a pair of stormtroopers on those claws. He charged and fired a lightning bolt at the third large spirit, frustrated that stunning was all his attacks did now.

The electricity was shrinking the spirits bit by bit, Luke could see that much. One spirit recovered and stabbed at a stormtrooper, and Luke brought down his lightsaber on that spirit's right arm. It cut the spirit's arm clean off at the elbow, the severed ends burning in blue plasma fires, and the detached limb burned away in seconds. The spirit screamed, pulled back its wounded arm, and the other arm swiped at Luke. He jumped to avoid the attack, allowing the claws to cleave air beneath him, and he swung his lightsaber at the spirit's left shoulder, cutting off the entire arm.

"Finish that one off!" Luke ordered. He landed beside the wounded spirit, and he ran past the stormtroopers. "Ozai, help me with the other two!"

Stormtroopers concentrated their fire on the wounded spirit, their cumulative blaster bolts inflicting more damage now that it had been weakened. Luke charged at the closer of the other two spirits, barely held at bay by Katara's waterbending and Long Feng's earthbending. The two were hurling water and boulders at the spirit, as well as dodging the spirit's attacks, but weren't inflicting any real damage. The third spirit was being held back by repeated lightning strikes from Ozai, and the stormtroopers plus Sokka were steadily whittling down the wounded spirit.

Luke turned slightly, running toward Long Feng now. "Give me a boost!"

Long Feng avoided another slash of the spirit's claws, and then clenched a fist in Luke's direction. He raised that fist, yanked a slab of stone from the ground, with Luke riding on top of it. He leapt from the hurled slab, got above the spirit, and swung his lightsaber straight down. It cut straight through the spirit from top to bottom, bisecting it into two symmetrical halves, with blue plasma burning in between. The spirit screamed in agony, even as its head burned away, as if the scream was coming from the essence of the spirit instead of its now non-existent mouth.

Landing right in front of the vertically split spirit, Luke swung his lightsaber through the spirit's legs, cutting them apart just below the knees. The legs burned and the spirit fell in pieces, both arms desperately slashing blindly, and Luke cut them apart as well. All of the pieces fell onto the tundra, flailing about in the dirt and snow wildly. The severed ends burned away and the blue flames spread from them, quickly consuming the rest of the spirit, leaving only ethereal ashes to blow away in the wind.

"One down," Luke said. He turned around to face the other spirits. "Now for the other two."

However, it seemed the other two spirits weren't interested in that. The wounded one in particular was the first to flee, detaching the burning stumps of its arms, leaving them to burn while the rest of it split back into the dozens of snake-shaped spirits that had created it. Those smaller spirits disappeared into the ether, abandoning the portions still burning away. The remaining large spirit was still kept at bay by Ozai's repeated lightning bolts, and it too vanished in a moment. The fighting was brought to an abrupt end, though blasters were still shooting for a little while longer.

"Where did they go?" Katara asked.

"Does it matter?" Long Feng asked in turn. "They're gone, and most of us survived."

Luke turned toward the stormtroopers, lightsaber still on in case the spirits returned. "How many did we lose?"

"Two dead, three wounded," Sokka answered, looking at the stormtroopers tending to their fallen comrades. "We've got six troopers still in decent shape."

Even though they were stormtroopers, Katara wasn't going to just let the wounded bleed out. They did still have a truce after all. "Hold on just a bit. I can get you stable."

Katara got to work on the wounded stormtroopers, coating her hands in water and applying them to the wounds, glowing light blue as they healed. She worked on them one at a time, closing the wounds on one stormtrooper before moving onto the next, ensuring that they could at least stay alive. There was nothing she could do about the severed limbs, save patch them over with fresh skin. The other stormtroopers stood guard over her, watching for any spirits that might attack while she worked, but she got to finish without interruption.

"Okay, that's about all I can do," Katara said. She stood up straight and faced the other stormtroopers. "They won't be able to fight for a while."

Luke walked over to her and faced that stormtrooper. "Take your men and get the wounded out of here. You'll only slow us down from here."

"Are you sure about that?" the stormtrooper asked. "Those things can still come back."

"Blasters aren't going to be much help any longer," Luke said. He pointed toward the center of the forest. "And we're almost where I need to go. Get your people to safety while you still can."

"Sir, with all due respect, we were ordered to stay with you," the stormtrooper said. "We're not going to abandon you."

Luke didn't want to do this, but it seemed necessary to get the stormtroopers to proper medical attention. He called on the Force and waved a hand. "You need to look after your men."

There was a slight pause, but the stormtrooper did reply. "I need to look after my men."

"There is nothing more you can do here," Luke continued.

"There is nothing more we can do here," the stormtrooper echoed.

Luke extended his focus to the rest of the stormtroopers. "This isn't worth your lives. Return to base."

By now the Jedi mind trick was doing its work, and the lead stormtrooper turned toward the others. "This isn't worth our lives. We're returning to base."

The wounded were lifted up and slung over their comrades' shoulders, and they stormtroopers slowly made their way back down the trail. Every free hand they had was holding a blaster, just in case they got attacked on the way out. Luke and the others watched until they were out of sight, listened for a while for any screams or blasters fired. But they heard no signs of an ambush, and they turned back toward the center of the forest. The path forward led through a large cluster of trees, into a large grove with thick branches blocking out the sky.

"Come on," Luke said. Holding his lightsaber forward, he led the way down the path. "We're almost there. Let's finish the job."

Everyone else followed Luke down the path, keeping close and on guard for another spirit attack. Katara and Long Feng kept their respective elements at the ready, taking water and rock with them into the grove of trees. Sokka was still carrying the chaingun blaster with him, fingers numb from clenching it too long. Ozai's fingers sparked from time to time, eager to put lightning to use some more, only lacking a target. They walked into the grove, entering the center of the forest, and found a dim blue glow waiting for them up ahead.

The pit Luke had made last time was still here, and the orb of light was still at the bottom. Its radiance blended with the glow of the lightsaber, the only sources of light this deep in the Everstorm. Luke saw unfamiliar footprints around the orb, and he imagined Darth Vader walking around this place after he had been here. He walked into the pit first, getting up close to the orb, and poked at it with his lightsaber. The weapon did nothing to the orb, just like the last time he tried it, but it didn't hurt to be certain.

"I did not get this far last time," Sokka admitted. He stopped at the edge of the pit, watching Ozai go in after Luke. "Is that really what the spirits are guarding?"

"Apparently so," Ozai said. He stopped beside Luke, staring into the orb's light. "What exactly is it?"

"Vader believes it is a portal of some kind," Luke answered. He placed one hand on the surface of the orb, feeling a strange warmth coming from it. "Whatever he wants is on the other side."

"Did he ever say what it was?" Katara asked.

"Not specifically," Luke admitted. He pulled back his hand and turned toward the others. "He did say there was another portal at the North Pole. That is why he needed me here. They need to be opened at the same time for the Force to work."

"Let me guess, the Force will tell you when you're both in position," Sokka figured.

"Something like that," Luke said. He closed his eyes to focus, thinking about what he should do, and turned back to look at the orb again. "Vader wants the power on the other side to overthrow the Emperor. But if he gets that power, what's to stop him from using it against us?"

"Perhaps you could take the power for yourself," Long Feng suggested. "Use it against Vader and then the Emperor. Take over the Empire in their place."

"I doubt I could beat Vader to the punch on this," Luke said. "He is far more skilled than I am in the Force. And he knows a lot more about this than he's letting on."

"So what are you going to do?" Katara asked.

Luke knew what this situation called for, although the likely consequences would include getting them all killed. "We can't allow Vader to succeed. The danger is just too great."

Ozai nodded, and he turned to look Luke in the eye. "How exactly would you stop him?"

There was only one surefire way Luke could think of, something that would prevent another force-sensitive person from opening the portal. "Vader needs it opened. That won't happen if we destroy it."

Loud shrieks came from all around them, the kind that everyone could feel in their very souls. Dark spirits emerged from the trees, their serpentine forms leaping from branch to branch, converging at the center of the grove directly above the orb. Hundreds of them joined together and merged into a single being, becoming a massive serpent well over ten meters thick. The serpent's head had a wide maw and sharp teeth, open wide and bellowing a mighty roar at the people below. It came down right on top of Luke, as if it knew what he wanted to do.

Sokka was already shooting at it, the chaingun blaster firing at maximum rounds per second, the bolts pelting the spirit like hail. Actual hail followed the blaster bolts, Katara's waterbending at work, going for sheer volume of ice. Long Feng hurled a barrage of rocks as well, every one hitting the very large target. Lightning bolts struck the spirit as well, one after another fired from Ozai's fingertips, right in the eyes and the wide open mouth. Yet the spirit kept on coming, barely slowed down by the attacks against it.

The spirit bit down around Luke, as if to swallow him whole. He shoved his lightsaber straight up the throat of the serpent, igniting its ethereal form from the inside. The resulting flames of blue plasma grew up and outward, spreading through the core of its being, burning away everything in the inferno's path. It took all of Luke's concentration to keep from being burned, using the Force to keep the flames away from himself and keep the heat at bay. The serpent was consumed from end to end, the blue blaze spreading into the forest canopy, melting the ice and setting the trees aflame.

The head of the serpent was burned away, and when those flames dispersed Luke was left standing there, holding his lightsaber toward the sky in both hands. "That… was too close."

"I'll say," Katara said, staring at Luke right now. "I thought you were a goner for a second."

"Could be worse," Sokka said. "Could have been swallowed whole and spat out in the spirit world."

"Worse might still happen," Long Feng said. He was looking up, and pointed to the inferno raging above them. "We've got a new problem."

The center of the forest canopy was burning fiercely, spreading outward amidst the treetops. The flames quickly changed from blue to red and orange, losing the form of plasma and becoming regular fire instead. Smoke and steam billowed out from the burning trees, mixing with the clouds of the Everstorm. Spirits fled from the blaze as it spread across the forest, abandoning the treetops as they were destroyed. Ash and embers fell to the forest floor, raining down over the group, requiring action to avoid being burned.

Katara created a dome of water over herself and Sokka, catching the hot embers and extinguishing their flames. Long Feng had made similar shelter out of rock, more than enough to protect himself. Ozai was casually firebending away the burning embers with waves of his hand, child's play for a firebender of his caliber. Luke simply held up a hand and focused on the Force, and the embers simply stopped in midair above them. They only needed to hold out for a few minutes, until the forest canopy above them burned away completely, though the grove continued to burn as a ring of fire.

All Ozai had to do now was keep the flames from spreading inward, easy enough for him to do with simple hand gestures. "Alright. Who wants me to let this entire Agni forsaken place burn to the ground?"

Sokka raised his hand. "Go right ahead. Maybe it'll teach those spirits that they don't belong here."

"Good luck with that," Katara said. She had put her water back into a ring around herself, keeping up her guard and half expecting spirits to emerge from the blaze. "It might take a lot more convincing."

Still, it seemed that the spirits weren't about to attack again, and Long Feng turned his attention back to Luke. "You were saying something about destroying this thing?"

"Right," Luke said, turning back toward the orb. He stood there and closed his eyes, trying to visualize how to make that happen. "It will be tricky, but I think we can pull it off together."

Ozai's gaze narrowed. "Together… yes."


	40. Light in the Darkness

Chapter 40: Light in the Darkness

After the hasty escape from the _Executor_ , Mara Jade put the stolen TIE Bomber on course to Earth.

It was made easier by Darth Vader's actions in facilitating his misguided truce, something Mara Jade was all too eager to exploit. The _Executor_ had been the only imperial capital ship in the system, as the Star Destroyers that should have been in Earth's orbit had been redeployed elsewhere. Therefore all TIE Fighters had to be deployed from behind for pursuit, none able to be launched from ahead of the bomber to intercept it quickly. The space between the _Executor_ and Earth was empty, save for the blaster bolts that missed the bomber and kept on going.

From his view in the gunner's seat Aang saw the blaster bolts passing by too close for comfort. "They're getting closer. Can't you lose them?"

Mara was making the ship move from side to side as well as up and down, taking the subtle path that avoided the blaster bolts by the narrowest of margins. "In case you haven't noticed, space is empty. There's nothing out here to lose them in."

"Well then go faster," Aang suggested.

"Already going as fast as we can," Mara said. "Bombers aren't built for speed. I picked it because it has better armor than those fighters out there."

One bolt clipped a corner of the bomber's hull, and the resulting scorch mark startled Toph. "That one hit us! How much of a beating can this thing take?"

"I'd rather not find out," Aang said.

"We won't need to," Mara said. The view of Earth was filling up the window, centered on the planet's northern ice cap. "Brace yourselves. We're about to hit atmosphere."

Toph gripped the seats she was sitting between. "Oh goody."

The TIE Bomber hit the edge of Earth's atmosphere, and there was an immediate effect on the little ship's flight path. Wind resistance, weak though it was at this altitude, began to push against the ship. It conflicted with the pull of gravity, and the opposing forces made the ship more difficult to control at maximum speed. The effects were even greater on the TIE Fighters following the bomber into atmosphere, increasing in strength the further in they went. They were not designed for atmosphere after all, but continued the pursuit despite the challenging conditions.

Aang felt his native element return to him, and he quickly stood up while grabbing his staff. "Keep it steady. I've got an idea."

It took some finagling to get past Toph in the tight space, but they managed to trade places in this tiny ship. Aang stood between the seats and the hatch, held his staff in both hands toward the exit hatch, and started spinning it round and round. His eyes and tattoos glowed with the Avatar State, amplifying the airbending he put to work outside the ship. The TIE Bomber hit sudden turbulence, caught at the narrow end of a growing vortex, barely keeping a stable flight path. Behind the ship the vortex of wind grew wider and stronger, catching the TIE Fighters in pursuit.

This high altitude tornado tossed the tiny ships around like leaves, despite their pilots using every trick they knew to stay on course. Some of them crashed into each other, the debris caught in the wind and pulled along for the ride, inflicting further damage on subsequent impacts with other TIE Fighters. The tornado followed the bomber as it dived toward the planet's surface, growing even stronger as the air thickened. It only took a few minutes for the tornado to make all of the fighters crash into each other, and the pieces continued to follow the bomber's descent.

"What is going on back there?" Mara demanded.

"I think he's airbending," Toph said, clinging to the seat with both hands.

"He's what?" Mara questioned. She abandoned that train of thought when she saw moonlit ice sheets coming up fast. "Never mind, hang on, this is going to be rough."

Mara pulled up as hard as the tiny ship could, coming out of the vertical descent and curving onto a horizontal flight path. The tornado behind the ship followed suit, and the winds assaulted the frozen tundra rushing by beneath them. In the darkness of polar night the land was illuminated by the moon and stars and artificial lights up ahead, the latter belonging to an Imperial outpost. The maneuver left the bomber flying just above the icy surface, and the tornado whipped up a massive snowstorm, closing in on the outpost in a hurry.

The bomber passed over the outpost, the tornado knocked down several buildings, and the snowstorm enveloped everything. Chaos ensued inside the outpost, stormtroopers and support personnel blindly fumbling around in the whiteout while TIE Fighter pieces rained down on them. No one saw the bomber touch down just outside the outpost, its wings nearly breaking off in the quick landing. The tornado dispersed into gentle winds, and the snowstorm continued onward, concealing the bomber from aerial view.

"That could have gone better," Mara said, shutting down the bomber's engines. "Is everyone alright?"

The glow of the Avatar State left Aang, and he got to work opening the little ship's hatch. "A little banged up, but I'm fine."

"I've been better," Toph said. She got out of the seat, glad to have solid terrain beneath her again, even if it was a frozen wasteland. "It sucks not being able to do anything to help."

"Well we're back on Earth now," Aang said. He got the hatch open and a strong breeze brought snow through the hole. "Earthbending is back on now, and I think we're going to need it."

Now Mara recognized the term bending, though only from documents she had accessed on the _Executor_. "It will certainly help, that's for sure."

Aang hopped through the hole, setting foot on snow amidst the storm, barely able to see past his nose in the darkness. "What's our next step? Obviously this ship isn't going to fly again."

"We passed over an outpost," Mara said. She got out of the ship next and faced the path they came from, barely able to see pinpoints of light through the falling snow. "If we're going anywhere we need to stop there first for supplies and transport."

Toph was still in the ship, clinging to the edges of the hatch and pointing at Mara's feet. "Can I borrow those? I really don't want to get frostbite out here."

Mara was still wearing the stolen stormtrooper uniform on top of her clothes, and she noticed that Toph had been barefoot the entire time. "I'm not going to ask why. I'm sure you have your reasons."

She took off the stormtrooper boots and tossed them up to Toph, who reluctantly put them on her feet to shield them from the cold. Toph hopped down to join Aang and Mara, and she followed them toward the lights in the distance. Those lights were steadily becoming clearer as the snowstorm settled, the air becoming clearer by the minute and improving visibility. It was still polar night outside, allowing the three to approach under cover of darkness, but they still moved as quickly as they could run through the snow.

Patrol ships flew by overhead, casting spotlights onto the frozen terrain below. They were following the obvious trail made by the bomber as it landed, becoming easier to see as the snow settled. By the time the patrol ships could land Mara and the others were long gone, their tracks erased by Aang's waterbending. Still, the stormtroopers in the patrol ships started a search, knowing that whoever was in the bomber had to be nearby. That was going to be difficult, what with the nearest outpost in chaos and a lack of orbital support at the moment.

Mara stopped at half a kilometer from the outpost, where a small ridge of ice and snow offered cover from spotlights up ahead. "We need a way to get inside undetected."

Aang was busy waterbending away ice and snow, and he switched to earthbending when he hit frozen dirt and rock. "Already on it, should be ready in a moment."

Mara watched him work, pleasantly surprised with the initiative on display. "That'll work."

One the hole was deep enough all three of them went inside, and Aang closed the top of the hole behind them. From there they made their way beneath the tundra, Toph helping with her earthbending, making it easier for Aang to tunnel through the permafrost. Mara had to trust that they knew what they were doing, barely having any understanding of their full abilities. Toph's vibration sight, dulled though it may be by the boots and the snow, was invaluable in making sure they could surface directly underneath the outpost.

But when they started their ascent they hit a snag, requiring Aang to stop prematurely. "Of course they put in a solid metal floor. It would have been too easy otherwise."

"They had to get wise to this trick sooner or later," Toph said.

"I take it that means your powers don't work on metal," Mara assumed. She reached for a particular weapon kept out view, wishing she didn't need to reveal it so soon. "I guess I'll have-"

Toph punched the metal, and a large dent formed in it. "Okay, good, they used local materials instead of that hyper purified stuff. I'll have this open in a jiffy."

"Since when could you do that?" Aang asked.

"Oh I figured out metalbending a while ago," Toph answered. "I'll have to teach it to you sometime. It works by earthbending impurities in the metal. Doesn't work so well on the stuff they use in space, not enough earth in the hyper purified metal, but they don't know that yet."

Toph continued her work on the metal above them, tearing open a wide hole into the outpost's foundation. From there they continued their ascent into the outpost proper, emerging inside a supply depot half filled with construction materials. The other half was filled with pieces of several different TIE Fighters, which had crashed through the roof and demolished a wall. A few inches of snow covered the debris, and the only footsteps were from people fleeing before more of the building could fall in on them.

Mara held up a fist to signal for silence, hearing plenty of footsteps and voices outside the depot. The chaos seemed to have settled down, now that the immediate danger had subsided and the people could recover. The outpost was surely on lockdown by now, though the damage would just as surely leave holes in security. Mara moved as silently as she could, getting to the collapsed wall for a better viewpoint, listening in on the activity outside. She still couldn't hear all the details, but got the gist of what the imperial priorities were.

She waited until she heard footsteps moving away and the voices fade away, and then Mara made her way back to the others. "It looks like the barracks by the eastern wall were hit the hardest. If we can get to the hangar we can take a speeder bike out of here."

"And where would that be?" Aang asked.

"Assuming this outpost follows the standard layout," Mara said. She held up a hand, turned to put her back toward the collapsed wall, and pointed to her left. "It should be fifty meters that way."

Toph crouched and punched the floor, getting the best view she could in this terrain. "Found it, right where you say it should be. There are some stormtroopers standing guard near it."

"As there should be," Mara said. She walked over to a door in the right direction, readying herself to make a run for the hangar. "Can you create some cover for us with those tricks of yours?"

Aang held up his staff. "Another snowstorm should do the trick. It'll be smaller than the last one."

"It'll do," Mara said. She put her hand on the door's control panel. "Okay, go!"

Mara pressed a button and the door opened, and she sprinted through with Aang and Toph right behind her. Aang started airbending and whipped up all the loose snow around him, creating instant white-out conditions in this corner of the outpost, enveloping all three of them in the moving snow. He went into the Avatar State for a few seconds, using a brief burst of power to amplify this snowstorm, swallowing entire buildings in the white-out. Once the winds and snow were in motion Aang stopped airbending, letting momentum keep the elements moving for the short time it was needed.

That was when the imperials realized they were under attack. The snowstorm was no natural weather phenomenon, even stormtroopers could deduce that bending was at work. Spotlights were shined into the swirling snow, penetrating the outer parts of the white-out. Three vague silhouettes appeared, and the stormtroopers opened fire from several directions. It was difficult to find good aim, even with the spotlights, and the first volley of blaster bolts missed entirely. Walls of snow and ice formed in response, absorbing shots that got too close to the targets.

Aang only needed that waterbending for temporary defenses, as the run to the outpost hangar had been a short one. They almost ran into a fragment of a crashed TIE Fighter, stuck in the collapsed wall of the hangar, with a gap just barely wide enough for Mara to slip through. All three of them got through and Aang filled the gap with thick ice, just in time for the snowstorm to settle outside. Then Aang turned around, got a good look at the contents of the hangar, quickly finding everything they would need for a trip across the arctic.

"So how are we getting out of here?" Aang asked. He heard stormtroopers trying to shoot their way through the ice to get inside. "They're bound to come in through that door over there."

"One thing at a time," Mara said. She grabbed some thick winter coats and tossed a pair to Aang and Toph. "Put those on. You're going to need them."

Toph had the coat on in a few seconds. "Okay, now what?"

Mara picked out a speeder bike and turned it on, and produced a pair of thermal detonators from a pocket. "Get on and hold on tight."

She threw the detonators and jumped onto the speeder bike, followed by Aang and Toph hopping onto the back end of the vehicle. The detonated exploded and destroyed the northern wall, and Mara drove the speeder bike through the new wall before the rubble could settle. They emerged into haphazard spray of blaster bolts, a result of stormtroopers hastily moving their aim away from the intact door. Mara drove as fast as the speeder bike could move, heading straight for the northern side of the outpost, discovering a wall in their way.

"Need a ramp," Mara said. That wall was coming up fast. "Now!"

Aang delivered by waterbending the snow all around them, creating a ramp of ice in front of the speeder bike. The vehicle hit that ramp head on and soared upward, assisted by Aang airbending an updraft beneath it, just barely clearing the wall. Coming down on the other side would have damaged the speeder bike, if it weren't for the snowbank to soften the impact. From there Mara drove away from the outpost, just as the external defenses came online to target them. Aang whipped up another small snowstorm behind them, preventing automated turrets from acquiring target lock.

Soon enough the outpost was far behind them, and Mara drove the speeder bike straight north. "Okay, we should be ready now."

"That was a fun little diversion," Toph said. She sat behind Aang and was holding onto him, her view of the world reduced to the speeder bike and everything on it. "So when are you going to bust out that toy of yours?"

Mara glanced back at her for a moment. "Could you please be a little less vague?"

"That thing on your belt," Toph specified. "The one you clearly don't want anyone to see."

Aang wasn't in the mood for this, so he closed his eyes and punched the side of the speeder, using his limited skill with vibration sight for a brief look into Toph's world. "That's a lightsaber!"

Mara had a choice to make, right here and right now, with one of her secrets revealed. No one was supposed to know about the lightsaber, or that she knew how to use it, not unless she was going to kill them with it. This was the weapon she used in her role as the Emperor's Hand, dispensing his will and judgement within the Empire. Yet Toph had clearly known about it for quite some time, and she had kept that information to herself until now. Not to mention that Aang had been quite useful in this endeavor, likely going to be essential in any confrontation with Darth Vader.

She could always dispose of them later.

"Yes, it's a lightsaber," Mara said. "I haven't been using it because it draws too much attention. It's hard to sneak around when flashing an unmistakable weapon around like a toy."

Toph appeared to be satisfied with that answer. "I suppose people don't see them every day."

"I've only seen Luke and Vader use them," Aang said. "Well… I presume Yoda had one stashed away, but he never showed it when he was training Luke."

Now there was a name to keep in mind, but Mara would have to investigate it later. "I'd like to keep mine a surprise. Please don't give it away."

"No promises," Toph said.

Mara scowled at that remark, but got the feeling Toph was simply messing with her. "How about this? You keep my weapon a secret, and I'll keep your metalbending a secret."

Toph shrugged. "Fair enough."

They continued northward at the speeder bike's maximum velocity, not bothering with using headlights that would give away their position. Far from the outpost and its bright spotlights, the stars in the sky were enough for basic navigation. This far north the sky was blessed with aurora, the northern lights that formed majestic bands of constantly changing colors. Aang found them pretty to look at, and Mara could appreciate the extra light they provided. It made the trip much easier, not needing the speeder bike's headlights that would give away their position.

Aang figured they had to be far beyond the Northern Water Tribe's borders by now, heading into terrain even their best scouts rarely travelled. He hoped they could swing by there after they were done, but had a feeling that wasn't going to happen. He kept his gaze forward, and soon spotted a vehicle parked up ahead. Mara recognized it as the personal TIE Fighter of Darth Vader, all alone here at the top of this world. She slowed down the speeder bike on approach, just in case Vader was nearby, eventually coming to a stop at the threshold to a valley containing a strange forest.

Unlike the one in the south, this forest was free of ice and all its vegetation was in full bloom, despite being in the middle of the months-long polar night. Aang could feel the spiritual energies that kept the forest alive, similar to the oasis in the Northern Water Tribe, but on a larger scale. The Force was strong here, Mara could sense that, and could start to understand why Vader might be obsessed with this place. Toph only saw it when she hopped off the speeder bike, setting foot on frozen ground and watching the forest appear in her view of the world.

"Okay, this is different," Toph said. She turned to face the forest, putting her fists on her waist. "I take it we are going in there?"

"Of course," Mara said. She climbed off the speeder bike and walked past Toph. "Be on your guard. It's only a matter of time before Vader realizes we're catching up to him."

Aang set foot inside the forest, finding only a thin layer of snow crunching beneath his feet. "It's too dark to see any footprints. Toph, can you pick up the trail?"

"Can I pick up the trail…" Toph muttered, laughing a little and shaking her head. She followed into the forest and punched the ground. "Got it, he went that way, straight and narrow path ahead."

"After you then," Mara said.

They walked into the forest, heading down the path that Vader had taken. The temperature increased the further they went in, quickly climbing above freezing, which in turn made it sweltering in the stolen winter coats everyone wore. They had to remove the coats and leave them behind, no longer needing them as the cold gave way to comfortable warmth. Toph had to keep the stormtrooper boots on, as there was just enough snow on the ground to still risk frostbite on bare feet. They kept a brisk pace as they travelled deeper into the forest, heading straight for a clearing at the center.

Throughout the journey, from the moment they set foot in the forest, all three of them noticed that they were being watched. It seemed like there were eyes in every shadow, creatures observing them from every dark place around them. The silent observers would vanish when anyone approached, only to return when the group had passed. It seemed that watching was all they would do, not lifting a finger or other appendage to stop the latest visitors. Still, their presence was a little unnerving, expecting them to do something at any moment.

"This is strange," Aang said. "We're surrounded by spirits, but they aren't attacking us. What are they waiting for?"

"So those are spirits," Toph muttered. She slowed her pace a bit, trying to get a better picture of the things surrounding them. "I'm having a hard time seeing them. It's like they're there and yet not there at the same time. The vibrations from them seem to phase in and out."

"That would be their incorporeal nature," Aang said. "I'm surprised you're even picking them up at all."

"You weren't kidding about these spirit things," Mara said. She had never seen anything like them, and she didn't like what she sensed from them. "Hopefully they won't interfere."

Toph stopped in her tracks, and Aang nearly bumped into her. "I see him. That mechanical monstrosity of Vader's is unmistakable. He's in the clearing up ahead, standing in front of… something. What I'm seeing doesn't make any sense."

"Let's get a closer look," Aang said. "We can sneak up on him from-"

"Don't bother with stealth," Mara interrupted. "Vader will sense us coming, if he doesn't already know we are here."

"Well in that case," Aang said, walking around Toph. "Let's go say hello."

They continued onward, heading into the clearing up ahead. There was a slight downward slope, like a shallow crater worn away by time, and the group stopped at the rim. Almost at the bottom was Darth Vader, facing the center of the clearing, where a large orb of red light cast a dull glow on the clearing. That ominous mechanical breathing of his filled the air, the only sound that broke the silence. Vader stood with his hands behind his back, patiently waiting for some unseen signal. He slowly turned around, facing the three new visitors to this strange forest.

"I must admit, I did not anticipate this confrontation," Vader said, his gaze moving between each of the three interlopers in turn. "It is not like your kind to recruit allies."

Mara stepped ahead of the others, taking slow and steady steps toward Vader. "Just as it is not like you to make peace with the rebellion. Is all of this truly worth betraying the Emperor?"

"They were a means to an end," Vader said. "Just like those pawns of yours."

Aang had taken a step away from Mara. "Do you two know each other?"

Vader glanced at Aang, then Toph, and then looked back to Mara. "Neither of you know who she really is. I wonder, what alias has she used this time?"

"It doesn't matter," Mara said. She left Aang and Toph behind her, walking down the slope to confront Vader up close and personal. "It is your plot against the Emperor that concerns us."

"You would know all about that," Vader said. "Mara Jade, the Emperor's Hand."

Mara didn't bother attempting to maintain her charade. "And as the Emperor's Hand, I charge you with willful insubordination with intent of treason against the Emperor. As enforcer of his will, it is my duty to end your plot against him. Your betrayal ends here."

"Betrayal is the way of the Sith," Vader said. He started walking toward Mara. "Masters betray weak apprentices for stronger apprentices, and in turn apprentices betray their master to become the master. Darth Sidious will not hesitate to replace me, should someone stronger turn to the dark side."

That admission was all Mara needed to hear. "Then it is time to put you down."

She drew the lightsaber she carried and activated it, projecting a dark purple blade and casting its dark light upon the clearing. In turn Vader drew and activated his lightsaber, its red light clashing with the purple before the blades could even meet. Mara charged forward, holding her lightsaber in both hands, swinging it at Vader with all her strength. He blocked the attack easily, the lightsabers clashing between them, Vader's refusing to budge even the slightest bit. Vader's gaze met Mara's eyes, glaring past the crossed lightsabers, both reading the other through the Force.

Aang hadn't moved an inch, watching the start of the fight from afar, still coming to terms with the revelation of Mara's identity and true role. "I'm confused. She was working for the Empire this whole time, but is fighting against Vader anyway?"

"Looks like villainous infighting to me," Toph said. "Doesn't matter who wins, we're left with someone that's surely going to kill us."

They watched as Mara pulled back her lightsaber to swing again from a different angle, only for Vader to block that attack just as easily. She swung at him again and again, yet none of her attacks got through Vader's defense. Then Vader struck back, swinging his lightsaber at Mara's neck, though she blocked it just short of touching her throat. She pulled back, Vader struck again, and she dodged instead of blocked. Mara spotted an opening, swung her lightsaber at Vader's waist, but before her weapon could connect she was struck by an unseen force that pushed her away.

Toph turned toward Aang. "That's a neat trick. I couldn't see that connect."

"That was the Force," Aang said, recalling such tricks from observing Luke's lessons with Yoda. "Unless she can use it too, she doesn't stand a chance."

Coming to a stop a dozen feet away, Mara leaped into the air and got above Vader, coming down and swinging her lightsaber at Vader's head. With a wave of his hand Vader called upon the Force, using it to toss her aside. She landed on her feet, kicked off the ground to leap with surprising speed, closing in on Vader to strike again. He blocked with his lightsaber, and the two weapons clashed some more, until Vader twisted the clash until Mara's weapon was ripped from her grasp. Her lightsaber shut down and clattered against the ground, and Vader's was about to cleave her in two.

That is, until a pair of boulders nearly struck him, barely stopped in time by quick reflexes and the Force.

Standing side by side, both in earthbending stances, Aang and Toph were ready to attack again. "You really think we should be doing this?"

Aang nodded and started airbending. "Best chance to bring down Vader. We might as well take it."

He fashioned a sphere of wind and hopped on top of it, riding the ball of air across the clearing toward Vader. Boulders rained down in front of Aang, hurled by Toph for cover fire, only for Vader to halt the boulders with the Force. Up close Aang punched one of the floating boulders, all of them shattered into rubble, and the tiny pieces pelted Vader like hail. A fireball followed, which Aang amplified with a gust of wind, and the resulting plume of flame enveloped Vader's helmet. When the flames passed there was soot on the helmet, but no apparent damage.

Vader thrust a palm forward, and Aang was flung off his airball to tumble across the ground. He was replaced by Toph closing in on a moving mound of earth, closing in at surprising speed. Vader pushed with the Force, the power clashed with earthbending, and the moving mound shattered. Toph flipped end over end, going right over Vader's head, crashing into the ground between him and the red orb. Vader turned around, saw where Toph had crashed, and pulled with the Force to yank her away and toss her across the clearing.

By then Mara had recovered her lightsaber and turned it back on, swinging at Vader while his back was turned. A backhanded swing blocked the attack, lightsabers clashing behind Vader's back. Vader raised his free hand, Mara was lifted off the ground, and he pushed her away, her back slamming into the ground. The wind was knocked out of her, she needed a second to recover, and by then Vader was standing over her. He swung his lightsaber straight down, Mara barely blocked in time, the tip of Vader's lightsaber right in front of her eyes.

The ground beneath them shattered, a powerful gust of wind struck Vader, and he was blown off his feet. But he wasn't toppled over, and he stopped when his feet hit solid ground, recovering his footing and turning to face Aang. A giant boulder hurled in from the right, Vader turned to stop it with the Force, his gaze set on Toph now. He let the boulder fall, reached out toward Toph, and the Force squeezed on her throat. She was lifted off the ground, her view of the world vanishing in an instant, clutching at the invisible hand choking her.

"It was a mistake to let you loose on Carida," Vader said, tightening his grip through the Force. "It is fortunate that I get to correct it."

"Toph!" Aang screamed. In a moment of desperation he reached toward Vader. "Let her go!"

Aang clenched his fist, commanding the air to stop. Vader's mechanical breathing halted in an instant, replaced by screeches of metal on metal. The air inside his suit refused to move, as if made solid and clogging the tubes and valves of his life support systems. His charred out lungs burned for air, the kind of pain Vader hadn't felt in decades. Vision was already fading around the edges, lightheadedness threatened to take his mind, and his limbs felt like lead. And yet Vader couldn't help but be impressed by this imitation of the Force choke, even if he was on the receiving end.

Vader let go of his lightsaber, shutting off before hitting the ground, and he reached toward Aang with that hand. The Force gripped around his throat, lifting Aang off the ground just like Toph. Though gasping for air now, Aang didn't stop his airbending, instead reaching with his other hand and clenching his fist. What little air still circulating inside Vader stopped, and the charred out lungs shriveled around dense air that would not move. It was a battle of wills now, and it would only stop when one could no longer suffocate the other.

It was a draw.

Both Vader and Aang stopped at the same time, resulting in Aang and Toph dropping to the ground, while Vader fell to his knees. All three of them were gasping for air, all in a great deal of pain. Aang recovered the fastest, using a variety of breathing techniques that exploited airbending. Toph needed more time, though she was relieved to be back on the ground and having her view of the world back. Vader needed to manually adjust his life support systems, one hand using the controls on his chest, greatly increasing the oxygen ratio of the air he breathed, and even then his lungs still burned.

"Impressive…" Vader said. He stood up straight, and his mechanical breathing was gradually regaining its normal rhythm. "No one… has ever… countered the Force… quite like that before."

"If you think that's good…" Aang said. He took in a deep breath, centered himself, and his eyes and tattoos glowed with bright blue light. **"You will enjoy this."**

Winds converged on Aang from every direction, combining into a sphere around him and lifting him off the ground. Snow and ice melted and flowed to Aang, forming a ring of water around him. The ground shattered beneath him, two dozen large rocks rose up into another ring before compacting into denser stones. Flames burst from his hands and mouth, twisting into a ring of fire around his waist. Aang floated in the center of the four elements, displaying his full power and all its glory for Vader and Mara to witness.

Vader had heard the local legends, but it was different to see it firsthand. "So this is the Avatar State…"

Aang reached forward, and all four elements surged together, aimed right for Vader's head. Vader held his palm forward, the elements clashed against a barrier of the Force, and pushed him back several feet. Aang flung rocks and fire in an arc, coming down from above Vader, and he moved to the left to dodge the attack. Vader used the Force to hurl boulders at Aang, only for them to stop and compact into more dense stones, joining the ring around him. Aang moved forward, bringing his entire arsenal toward Vader, and he used the Force to move himself out of the way quickly enough.

Turning to follow his foe's movements, Aang saw Vader and the red orb now behind him. His glowing eyes were suddenly affixed to the red orb, as if he recognized its true nature. The memory was buried deep in the collective consciousness of the Avatar State, before the life of Avatar Yangchen, before many cycles of reincarnation, going all the way back to the very beginning of the Avatar itself. For nearly ten thousand years the memory had laid dormant, deliberately buried so that the knowledge would not be misused, but seeing the red orb awakened the memories of the First Avatar.

" **The portal must never be opened!"** Aang yelled. His gaze turned toward Vader. **"I will not let you release Vaatu!"**


	41. Equivalent Exchange

Chapter 41: Equivalent Exchange

When Mara had begun this fight, she hadn't thought it would lead to this.

She stared at the boy she had met just a few hours ago, who now seemed like a completely different entity. Between the glowing eyes, the glowing tattoos, the booming voice, and the rings of classical elements surrounding him, Aang seemed less like a person and more like an unrelenting storm. That was just what the eyes could see, it was the unseen parts were more disconcerting. From what Mara sensed in the Force, there was more to Aang than just himself, more than the elemental powers at his command, like a primal force of nature made flesh.

Vader sensed it too, realizing that there was more to Aang than meets the eye. He used the Force to lift himself off the ground, a few inches being enough, and moved more swiftly than his mechanical legs could allow. It was needed for him to stay ahead of Aang, carried by the sphere of wind at great speed, swerving back and forth across the clearing. Aang attacked with all the elements, alternating between them at times, using all of them at others, and simply ramming with the elemental rings. Vader was deflecting attacks with the Force, appearing to be using his gloved hands to do it.

As those two fought each other Mara made quick glances around the clearing, discovering that Vader's lightsaber remained where he had dropped it during the mutual suffocation. She darted over to the lightsaber and picked it up, turning it on beside her own, casting half her face in red light and the other half in purple. Dual-wielding the lightsabers, Mara charged at Vader, getting behind him as he came around the red orb. Mara leapt a dozen feet into the air, coming down with both lightsabers swinging at Vader's back.

But Vader would not be caught off guard so easily. While still moving he turned around, reached up at Mara coming down, stopping her descent and watching the lightsaber tips just barely miss his hand. Vader twisted his hand, fingers curling a little, and his lightsaber was ripped from Mara's grip, returning to the hand of its master. Then he turned back around, swung his arm, and flung Mara toward Aang. In turn Aang swatted her away with the wind, tossing Mara toward Toph, who was surprised when Mara landed on her feet beside her.

The brief diversion was enough for Aang to close in on Vader, thrusting a hand forward, and the four elements combined into a twisting spiral of destruction. Vader held his lightsaber in the way, vaporizing the rock and water slamming into it, dispersing a similar amount of wind and flames. But not all of it hit the lightsaber, plenty going past on the left and the right. Half of it whizzed past the left side of his head, and the other half struck the right half of his face. His head snapped back, pieces of black metal fell away, and Vader screamed in agony.

His head turned back, the hole in the helmet plain as day, his right eye and surrounding scarred skin exposed. The flames had burned the skin, and it was difficult to keep the eye open, but the enraged fury was clear in his narrowed gaze. Vader thrust both hands forward, pushed with the Force with all his might, launching Aang away from him. It only bought a moment, as Aang was already closing in on Vader again, the elemental rings moving to align on the vertical plane. Vader pushed again, Aang pushed back, and the merging rings got closer inch by inch.

Then the ground shattered, Toph's handiwork, and Vader was flung upward into the elemental rings. Stones and flames and water slammed into his body, battering his armor and shredding his cape, until he used the Force to free himself from the current. Flung through the air and away from Aang, Vader came down next to the red orb. Though he landed on his feet, his legs were weary after the impact, and the tattered remains of his cape were burning. He thrust his free hand, Toph was Force pushed further away, and Vader held his lightsaber behind his back.

"Enough of this!" Vader declared. Instead of pushing with the Force, he pulled instead, and Aang closed in even faster than before. "I am tired of your interference!"

The elemental rings around Aang had returned to their regular alignment, and Vader used the Force to twist the entire formation to bring a gap in front of him. Vader swung his lightsaber into that gap, aiming for the side of Aang's waist. But the winds in the sphere changed direction, Aang was flipped around, and the lightsaber missed him entirely. The sphere of wind enveloped Vader, kept on going, and the elemental rings struck him on the other side. This time the onslaught scorched and cracked his armor, but still intact as he landed closer to the red orb.

Having overshot his target by a dozen feet, Aang turned around to face Vader. **"You are not in control here."**

Then Vader's head turned toward the red orb, sensing something wrong at its twin in the south. "What is he waiting for?"

* * *

At the other end of the planet, the frozen forest was burning to the ground. The flames were spreading out from the center toward the edges, slowed but not stopped by the ice on the trees. Soot and smoke billowed from the burning trees into the sky, mixing with the ethereal green clouds of the Everstorm, obscuring what little midnight sunlight that could reach the forest. Now everything was cast in the dancing orange and red lights of the blazing forest fire, save for the very center, which retained the calm light of the blue orb.

Ozai no longer needed to keep the flames away from the group, as everything flammable around them had already burned out. "You're certain we can destroy this thing?"

Luke stood next to the blue orb, staring into it as he turned on his lightsaber. "If I understand this correctly, yes. I just need to test something first."

He swung the lightsaber at the orb, there was a shower of sparks on contact, but left no visible mark that Luke could see. He swung a few more times, at a variety of angles, only to inflict no damage whatsoever. Then he stabbed the orb, pushing the lightsaber in bit by bit, right up until the hilt nearly touched the orb's surface. A fountain of sparks sprung out from the lightsaber, and the hilt was heating up from the disruption of the blade, though Luke tolerated the heat. He had his eyes closed, focusing on what he sensed through the Force, observing how the orb might respond to physical threats.

After a minute Luke pulled away and shut off his lightsaber. "Okay, this is going to be delicate work. It can't be damaged in its current state, and once it's open everything we throw at it will just pass through to the other side. We need to hit it in transition, and that's going to be a very small window."

"That sounds incredibly risky," Sokka said. He walked over to the orb, drawing his space sword and tapping the orb with it. "If we screw this up, we might end up giving Vader what he wants."

"Then we need to get it right the first time," Long Feng said. He stood at the opposite side of the orb, looking across it to see Luke. "I do trust you have some idea of how to do this."

"It's going to take all of us," Luke said. "I will attempt to open this portal with the Force. When I give the signal, hit it with lightning, then the earth and water, and finally stab it with that black sword."

Sokka raised an eyebrow. "This thing hasn't been any good against spirits around here. Why would it make a difference now?"

"We need a sealant to patch the hole destroying this thing will make," Luke said. "I'm afraid it will cost you the sword though."

There was a moment of hesitation, during which Sokka looked at his space sword, weighing the attachment he had to this weapon. "Fine… if it's to screw over the spirits then it's a good cause."

"Okay, let's get started," Luke said. He put away his lightsaber, held his hands close together, centering himself to prepare for this arduous task. "Here we go."

He focused on the Force, and started spreading his hand apart, as if to pry open a door with brute strength. Through the invisible connection of the Force, Luke seized the orb from within, working to break the seal that had closed the portal within. The orb pulled back against Luke, and he struggled to pull his hands apart. A crack formed in the orb's surface, split right down the middle, and light seeped through to shine into the clouds. Bit by bit the crack widened and more light came out, piercing the Everstorm and creating a hole to the sky.

But there came a point where the orb would split no further, straining Luke's focus nearly to the breaking point. "It's now or never!"

Ozai had been busy charging lightning, taking his time to build it to maximum power. He fired a massive lightning bolt into the split orb, right into the source of the light. There was a burst of brilliant light, electricity arced to anything conductive nearby, almost striking at Luke instead of the ground. It was followed by steams of water and large boulders from Katara and Long Feng, converging on the split orb and hitting the electricity surging within it. The orb swelled, the split widened, and the elements were absorbed into the spiritual energies of the orb, introducing physical imbalances to the portal within.

But just as Sokka was about to stab with his space sword, Luke lost his focus and his grip on the orb. "Get back!"

It was too late, the halves of the orb crashed back together, with Sokka's space sword caught in the middle. "Whoa!"

The orb was back to its original state, only with a sword buried in the side.

"That can't be good," Katara said.

"No, it's not," Luke admitted. He watched Sokka try to pull his sword free from the orb, but it would not budge even the slightest bit. "I think we hit the reason Vader couldn't open this by himself."

* * *

Vader had missed his chance, and it was absolutely infuriating.

Through the Force he had sensed a disturbance in the red orb, coming from the attempt to open its twin. Were it not for the interference on this end Vader would have responded in kind, and he was certain they would have succeeded in opening the portals. But thanks to the battle Vader had not been able to get into position, and the window of opportunity had come and gone. Now he would have to wait until Luke tried again, assuming he wasn't suspecting his true motives by now. Even then, if this fight wasn't ended soon, Vader knew he might miss his next opportunity.

Once again Aang was closing in on him, but Vader was unwilling to evade him any further. Instead he retrieved his lightsaber with the Force, made it float just beyond his hand, and spun it around at high speed. The effect was a strobing disk of red light, wide enough to shield his entire body. Aang hurled the elements at Vader, striking the spinning lightsaber head on. Rocks melted and water evaporated, wind and flames scattered, flung in all directions except at Vader. It was quite the mental strain to maintain this defense, and more was needed to turn it into offense.

With his free hand Vader reached toward Aang, careful not to touch the spinning lightsaber, lest he cut off his artificial fingers. Vader pulled on Aang with the Force, drawing him in toward his weapon. Aang had realized the danger and stopped his advance, and now used the wind to pull back against the Force. Still, he was drawn in toward the spinning lightsaber, promising to shred his body and vaporize the remains. Aang renewed his offensive with the elements, hoping to overload the lightsaber with sheer volume of matter.

When that proved futile Aang switched tactics, directing his bending down instead of forward. The sphere and the elemental rings around him plunged into the ground, just short of the spinning lightsaber, and the terrain around him shattered like glass. The cracks were filled with fire and steam, rising out of the earth like the arrival of a demon, surrounding Vader on all sides before converging on him. Vader had to shift his focus and raise his free hand upward, having the Force stop the flames and steam from hitting him.

Aang had gone underground during this maneuver, tunneling through the bedrock with all the subtlety of an earthquake. He came up directly underneath Vader, shattering the ground he stood on, and Vader plunged into the rising elemental sphere. Once again Vader was assaulted by the elements, further damaging his armor with more cracks and scorch marks. Up close he swung his lightsaber at Aang, the winds pulled the target away, but the tip of the blade caught the front Aang's shirt, setting it ablaze and burning quickly.

Vader fell out of the elemental sphere as Aang kept going up, landing on top of the red orb with shattered ground on one side. Aang tore off his burning shirt and tossed it away, reduced to ashes by the time it hit the ground. Vader pulled with the Force, while Aang summoned the wind, and both found themselves hurtling toward each other. They collided in midair, the elements striking Vader's right arm while Aang's body hit the rest of him, a lightsaber strike deflected during the collision, and they fell away from each other.

Landing a dozen feet away from the orb, right arm stripped of armor with circuitry exposed and frayed, Vader could barely hold his lightsaber in his right hand anymore. "I believe this is the longest anyone has lasted against me without the Force. Quite impressive."

Hovering at the other side of the clearing, Aang was calm despite being in the Avatar State this long. **"Flattery will get you nowhere. I will stop you."**

Vader's exposed eye narrowed. "We'll see."

* * *

Sokka finally gave up on trying to free his sword from the orb. "So what went wrong?"

"It wouldn't open far enough," Luke answered. He put his hand on the sword's hilt, hoping its predicament might extend what he could sense through the Force. "Vader must have had the same problem. It's why he needed help to open them."

"And now we need help to destroy them," Katara said. She walked over to the others, looking between Luke and Sokka. "It's too much risk. I get the feeling once you and Vader start together, you won't be able to stop."

"If we screw up that time, and I'm fairly certain we will, it will give Vader what he wants," Sokka said. He turned to look Luke in the eye. "Maybe we should just leave things well enough alone. We found out why Vader needs you, and all we need to do to stop him is just walk away."

"Vader will just get someone else," Luke said. He noticed odd looks from everyone. "Yoda spoke of another. I am not the only one that can become a Jedi. If I don't do this, Vader will scour the galaxy for someone that will. Leaving now would only delay him."

"I must agree with them," Long Feng said, approaching from behind Luke. "The risk is too great. You haven't exactly inspired confidence in your ability to get the job done. I must insist that we stop now and let Vader waste his time finding a replacement."

"Can't believe I'm agreeing with him," Sokka said. "We need to leave, before anyone realizes we're not doing what Vader wants."

"This is our only chance to stop his plan for good," Luke argued. "I'm not leaving until we see this through."

Ozai finally broke his silence on the matter. "And if you fail, Vader succeeds."

His mind made up, Ozai faced Luke, and punched to firebend at him. A plume of flames shot over the orb, aimed right at Luke's face, dodged at the last second. Everyone else backed away from Luke, just as Ozai threw more fire at him. Long Feng casually raised a wall of stone to shield himself, curved at an angle to deflect the flames toward Luke. He leaped out the way, leaped again to avoid more flames from Ozai, backing away from both him and Long Feng. From there Luke held his hand forward, and the next plume of flames struck and invisible barrier.

"What are you doing?!" Luke demanded.

"Stopping you from making a terrible mistake," Ozai answered. He used both hands, conjuring twin fireballs that he hurled around the Force shield. "I will not let you fall to Vader's manipulation."

"He wanted us to ensure you did," Long Feng said, turning to face Luke. "Vader sees you as essential to his plan. If you have to die to ensure he fails, then so be it."

While Luke avoided Ozai's flames, Long Feng stomped the ground, ripping a boulder out before hurling it at Luke. At the last second Luke held out his hand, the boulder stopped, and then it dropped beside him. A second boulder was already in motion, coming down from above Luke. This time he turned on his lightsaber and sliced the boulder in two, the halves falling on either side of him. A third boulder was coming down, accompanied by flames from Ozai, and Luke jumped out of the way from both. And both elements turned to follow, intent on striking him down together.

A floating stream of water intercepted the flames and the boulder, extinguishing the former and catching the latter. Katara brought the water back to her, fashioning a floating moat around herself. "Okay, I was against your plan Luke, but killing you goes a bit too far."

Sokka was standing behind his sister, hoisting up the chaingun blaster and taking aim. "You know, I was expecting a double-cross, but not this soon."

* * *

Having been watching the fight between Aang and Vader the entire time, Mara had not found another opportune moment to strike. She could only marvel at the sheer power on display, beyond anything she could manage with her own limited experience with the Force. But she wasn't going to stand there and do nothing, and when she spotted Toph returning to the clearing Mara had an idea. She quickly hurried over to Toph, keeping an eye on the battle the entire time, just in case any collateral damage came her way.

"Can you control earth in any form?" Mara asked.

"Of course," Toph answered. "What do you have in mind?"

"We need molten rock," Mara answered. "And we need a lot of it."

The possibilities were intriguing, but something Toph never thought of before. "Liquefying rock… that will be a new one."

"Can you do it?" Mara asked again.

"I need an example," Toph said. "I need to see the earth becoming liquid, to know how it's done."

Mara held up her lightsaber and turned it on. "That can be arranged."

She flipped the lightsaber around and stabbed the ground, easily piercing the dirt and stone beneath the soil. Keeping the lightsaber there allowed its heat to melt the rock, forming a narrow pool of molten rock two feet deep. Mara slowly moved the lightsaber in a spiral, as if to stir a pot, widening the pool slowly but steadily. Toph observed the entire process, watching the rock heat and change from solid to liquid, the vibrations changing just as radically as the change in state of matter. A smile formed and grew ever brighter, and Toph nodded in understanding.

"Got it," Toph said. She stood up straight, cracked her knuckles, neck, and other assorted joints. "Stand back. This is going to be hot."

Mara pulled out her lightsaber and took a few steps back. "Do it."

Toph slammed her fists into the ground, and then thrust them upward. The pool of molten rock erupted into a plume of lava, all the surrounding earth melting and adding to the molten rock hurled into the air. It was harder to control than ordinary rock, requiring more fluid motions than her usual solid stance. She sent the lava up and over the clearing, over the red orb, coming down on top of Vader. His head turned, the exposed eye widening at the sight of lava, and for a split second his mind went to the most painful memory.

"Not again."

He reached with his left arm, calling on the Force to stop the lava. Most of it floated above him, but several droplets slipped free, raining on Vader and burning into his armor. He turned, swung his arm, and directed the lava at Aang instead. Vader saw him stop and back away in the face of this danger, the lava crashing down on him. But then Aang twisted his arms in different ways, as if to grasp the lava and bend it to his will. It changed direction again, curving around Aang to join and absorb the ring of stones, becoming a ring of lava in its place.

Vader realized the mistake he just made. "Because of course you can control lava…"

* * *

Once upon a time, Sokka would have jumped at the chance to kill the Fire Lord.

Now it seemed like a waste.

He was shooting the chaingun blaster at maximum rate, the unending stream of blaster bolts aimed at Ozai and Long Feng. A thick rock wall had been raised between him and them, eating the blaster bolts with its sheer mass. Long Feng regularly added more stone to his wall, replacing the pieces chipped away by the blaster. Meanwhile Ozai was throwing more flames at Luke, most of them extinguished by Katara's water, some slipping through her defense. Luke deflected the rest with the Force, dispersing harmlessly in the air.

Ozai switched from fire to lightning, charging a bolt in a split second, and changed targets just before firing. The bolt shot straight at Katara, forcing her to bring her water back to herself, intercepting the lightning at the last second. The water absorbed the lightning, but electricity arced from it, a portion connecting with Katara's arms. She screamed in agony as the diluted lightning rushed through her flesh, leaving through her boots into the ground. Her heart was racing in frantic and irregular beats, and she collapsed face first while her water spilled all around her.

Luke used the Force to push Katara toward Sokka, getting her behind the relative safety of her brother. In that time Ozai charged and fired another bolt of lightning, this one aimed at his true target. Luke held up his lightsaber, the lightning hitting it instead of him, and there was a bright flash on contact. Electricity flowed up and down the length of the blade, caught in the magnetic field that shaped the blue plasma, arcing at random into the ground. For a moment the lightsaber lost its shape, the plasma spilling outward, until the electricity was gone and the disruption gone with it.

Another bolt of lightning followed, then another and another, hitting the lightsaber again and again. The lightsaber barely kept all that electricity at bay, the blade warped by the twisting magnetic field, and the hilt heated to a nearly unbearable degree. Luke backed away one slow step at a time, holding the lightsaber as far out as possible, feeling the hairs on his head standing on end. One particularly strong lightning bolt nearly overwhelmed the lightsaber, numbness took over the hand holding the weapon, and Luke tossed it away before the electricity could arc to him.

"It's over!" Ozai declared.

Needing to end this now, before Ozai could fire one more bolt, Luke reached toward him and called on the Force. Luke jerked his hand to the left, the Force yanked Ozai's hand to his right, just as the lightning fired. It was sent in Long Feng's direction, missed him by a narrow margin, only to hit the stone wall in front of him. On contact the lightning exploded, electricity arcing in every direction from the demolished wall, some of it hitting Long Feng. It was his turn to scream in agony, and he fell to the ground, lying there very still.

Luke shoved with both hands, pushing with the Force and all his concentration, launching Ozai far away from him. "We don't have time for this!"

* * *

With the ring of lava at his command, Aang put it to use.

He threw a third of it at the ground, splashing on impact and spreading outward, going right for Vader's feet. Vader held a hand toward the lava, it splattered against an invisible barrier from the Force, a few drops getting through and burning his legs. Aang threw the rest of the lava ring at Vader from above, aimed straight for his head. With a wave of his hand Vader diverted the lava with the force, tossed away to splatter on the ground with the rest. The lava continued to spread outward, covering much of the ground near the red orb.

Aang dropped to the ground, being on the opposite side of the lava from Vader, slamming both fists into the dirt. A ton of rock and stone melted in an instant, erupting into a wave of lava rushing at Vader. He leaped back, landed on top of the red orb, and pushed down with the Force. The wave of lava broke in front of him, and the lava flowed around the orb, leaving it surrounded by molten rock. It reminded him of that fateful day on Mustafar, but he pushed the memory out of his mind. He focused on keeping the lava at bay, still spreading as Aang melted more and more of the ground.

Raising his hands to the sky, Aang made the lava rise on both sides of Vader. The lava was shaped into large hands, and they grasped around Vader and the orb, enveloping both in molten rock. Aang clenched his fists, intense heat surged out like steam, and the lava hardened into a mound of solid black rock. For a moment all was still, until cracks formed and spread through the rock. The mound shattered into pieces, their sharp edges cutting through the air, aimed at Aang to skewer him. But he swung his arm and the shards changed direction, reforming the ring of rocks around him.

His armor scorched and red hot in places, Vader still stood on the orb, now surrounded by hard igneous rock. "Skywalker… what is taking you so long?"

* * *

After dealing with Ozai for the moment, and discovering that Long Feng wouldn't be a threat any longer, Luke hurried over to where Sokka was standing. The chaingun blaster lay at his feet, as Sokka was tending to his sister at the moment, helping Katara get back on her feet. She was having trouble standing, her arms and legs numb and barely responding, though her heartbeat was finally starting to settle. Luke turned off his lightsaber and put it away, and he came to a stop in front of the siblings, standing near the blue orb.

"You two should get out of here," Luke advised. "Ozai isn't finished, and he will be back."

"What about you?" Sokka asked. He had Katara's arm wrapped around his shoulders. "We can't just leave you here alone."

"There's not much left you can do here," Luke said. "I can handle this by myself from here."

"Yeah, no offense, but I'm not buying that," Sokka said. "I mean, last time you had Ozai helping, and now he's trying to kill you."

"I have a plan," Luke said. He saw Sokka's disapproving look. "Well an idea, but it should work."

Sokka looked past Luke, spotting Long Feng on the ground, not moving at all. "Yeah, this hasn't been working for any of us. Maybe you should take your own advice and leave while we still can."

Luke shook his head. "I'm not done yet."

Sokka let out a long groan. "You're still going to go through with this?"

"Yes," Luke said. He looked at the orb, still with the sword sticking out of it. "If it doesn't work this time, that'll be the end of it."

"Sure…" Sokka said, having his doubts about that. "It's your funeral."

"Let's just go," Katara said, having trouble getting the words out.

"Fine," Sokka said. He turned and walked away, helping Katara along with every step. "Come on sis, let me know when the shock wears off."

"It's getting better," Katara said. "I should be fine soon."

When they were near the edge of the clearing Luke turned away, facing the orb and walking to it. "Okay, let's try this again."

* * *

Vader had enough of this.

He focused the power at his command, drawing upon all his anger, all his pain, all his passion, everything that strengthened his connection to the Force. Vader crossed his arms, concentrating his power while Aang closed in again. At the last second Vader threw his arms out, and the Force unleashed a shockwave in every direction. It struck Aang first, and the shockwave hurled Aang out of the clearing, almost to the edge of the forest. Then it struck Mara and Toph, and they were launched out of the clearing in the opposite direction.

Only having moments before they returned, Vader got down from the orb and faced it properly. "Now then, to the matter at hand."

Vader held both hands toward the orb, reaching with the Force to grasp it from within. He slowly moved his hands apart, pulling on the orb to split it in two. A crack appeared in the center and widened slowly, light emerged from the orb, shining into the night sky to join the aurora. The gap spread to a few inches wide, and Vader held it there for the moment he had. He was not willing to overexert himself in the futile effort of opening the orb all the way by himself, needing to wait until its twin was being opened.

"Do not disappoint me," Vader said. His exposed eye narrowed. "There is not much time, Skywalker."

* * *

While facing the blue orb, Luke heard footsteps approaching, still some distance away but steadily getting closer. Luke deliberately put his back to the sound, expecting Ozai to approach him from behind. He reached for the orb and focused on the Force, attempting to open it again, just as he did before. The orb split and bright light came out, much more slowly this time. He held it there for the moment, feeling the orb fighting back against him. The footsteps stopped, Luke felt where Ozai was standing through the Force, and he waited for the right moment to duck.

"Okay…" Luke muttered. He heard the cackling of charging electricity behind him, just as he wanted right now. "Here we go."

Suddenly Luke felt something tug on him, and his whole body was jerked forward. The resistance through the Force vanished in an instant, and Luke's arms flung to the sides, hands as far apart as possible. The orb split all the way, and a pillar of blue light shot into the sky. The light pierced the clouds, penetrating the core of the Everstorm, and a bright flash dispersed the entire storm in an instant. A clear blue sky with the midnight sun greeted the forest, with dim aurora visible in the daytime, centered on the pillar of light shining into the sky.

As the pillar of light materialized, Luke felt the spiritual energies unleashed before him. "What… No!"

* * *

"Yes!"

Vader felt the resistance vanish, knowing that it was from Skywalker being in position. He threw his arms out all the way, and the orb opened all the way. A pillar of red light shot into the night sky, joining with the aurora above, intensifying the bands of ever-changing colors. Vader felt the spiritual energies emanating from the pillar, nearly overwhelming at first. But then Vader heard the wind, and he turned to see Aang incoming. But Aang didn't go straight for Vader, swerving slightly to the side, almost going behind the pillar instead.

Aang reached for the pillar with his right hand, grasping the light as if it were solid, and the pillar began to shrink back into the orb.

And a lightsaber cut off Aang's hand.

* * *

And a bolt of lightning struck Luke's back.

Ozai had fired just before the portal opened, aiming for center of mass. Luke had been stuck in place during the opening, and he couldn't even attempt to avoid it. The lightning seared into Luke's back, came out through his left foot, ravaging his flesh on the way through. Luke fell forward, landing face first in the ground, lying there very still. Ozai slowly walked forward, scowling as he looked at the open portal, realizing that he had failed to prevent this from happening. He stopped and stood above Luke, looking down at the burns in his back and foot.

"It's your own fault," Ozai said. He bent down and plucked the lightsaber from Luke's belt. "You won't be needing this."

* * *

Instantly dropping out of the Avatar State, Aang screamed in pain.

His severed hand fell to the ground, and the stump of an arm ended at his wrist. The portal was restored to full brilliance, and Aang stepped away from it. There was no blood, as the wound had been cauterized by the lightsaber, the only reason he wasn't passing out in shock. His head turned toward Vader, seeing him raise the lightsaber for another swing, aiming to take off his head. Aang summoned all the wind he could muster, whisking himself out of the way, and soared beyond the edge of the clearing.

Vader watched Aang retreat. "No matter…"

He turned and walked into the portal, vanishing in the red light.

* * *

With the stolen lightsaber in hand, Ozai turned toward the portal.

He considered the options available to him, though they were few and none were appealing. He couldn't return to his former role as Fire Lord, not while the Empire controlled the entire planet. Becoming a fugitive and pretending to be a commoner was not acceptable, not after the indignity suffered already during his imprisonment. Then there was the portal before him, leading to someplace Ozai couldn't fathom. But he did know it was where Vader wanted to go, that it contained whatever power Vader desired. Ozai had to admit he was intrigued, still looking at the lightsaber in his hand.

Ozai cautiously walked into the portal, vanishing in the blue light.


	42. Darkness in the Light

Chapter 42: Darkness in the Light

When the Everstorm disappeared from the sky, and the midnight sun shinned upon the South Pole for the first time in millennia, Sokka felt his stomach drop.

He had just gotten Katara past the third grove of trees, now charred instead of frozen, when the sky completely changed. "I know that looks good, but I'm pretty sure it's bad."

Then there was the unmistakable flash of lightning, immediately followed by thunder, and Katara turned toward it. "Luke…"

By now she had mostly recovered from the battle, though she had a limp from a leg still half-numb. She ran back to the center of the burned forest, with Sokka right behind her, approaching the pillar of blue light. It took half a minute for them to get there, and Katara gasped when she saw Luke face down in the dirt. Her eyes were fixed on the deep burn in Luke's back, still steaming from the heat of lightning searing through flesh. The only movement was from the wind blowing through Luke's hair, everything else was deathly still.

Immediately Katara got on her knees and coated her hands in water, glowing bright blue with the healing power of waterbending. She pressed her glowing hands to the burn on Luke's back, expecting a yelp of pain from him but hearing none, not even a whimper. The blue glow spread from her hands to the burn, pulsing with the rhythm of her heartbeat, the water flowing in a spiral around seared flesh. She put all of her focus and will into the healing, determined to restore Luke even from the brink of death.

Sokka couldn't bear to watch, fearing the worst for Luke's sake. He looked at the pillar of light instead, stomach sinking when he realized his suspicions were correct, sorely wishing that he had been wrong. He found his space sword lying on the ground, the blade sticking into the light, half of it appearing to fade away into nothing. Sokka grabbed the sword and pulled it out of the pillar, the faded portions returning to reality, and the sword seemed to be no worse for wear. He put the sword away, and then reluctantly turned back toward Katara.

"Is he…"

A sudden gasp for air interrupted him.

"Never mind," Sokka muttered.

Katara let out a sigh of relief, grateful that Luke wasn't dead. But the sudden gasp was followed by very weak breaths, so quiet that Katara barely heard them. She continued with the healing, but knew it was going to take a lot of work to make Luke whole again, if such a wound could even be healed completely. Already she was feeling drained from the effort, and the burn appeared to be just as fresh as when it was made. She continued anyway, ignoring the weariness steadily taking hold of her, determined to keep Luke alive.

Sokka could see his sister start to turn pale, and he put a hand on her shoulder. "Katara, you need to pace yourself. You're not going to help him if you die trying."

"Just… let me… I need to get him stable first," Katara said, shaking her head. "He's barely alive as it is. If I stop now… he might not make it."

Sokka sighed and started to dig in his clothes for bandages. "At least let me help…"

* * *

At the other end of the world, ignorant of the pillar of red light shining into the sky, Toph was running through the forest as quick as she could.

She had approached the clearing in the center of the forest, but found it completely deserted in her view of the world. There was no sign of Darth Vader, all footprints erased by the melting of the earth and cooling into glassy volcanic rock. But she did feel footsteps from elsewhere in the forest, heading away and stumbling on every other step. It looked like Aang to her, but there was something very wrong with the vibration image, and it had Toph rushing toward him. She almost forgot about the other woman nearby, following her through the forest.

Mara had gotten close enough to look into the clearing, had seen the pillar of light where the orb used to be, and didn't see Vader anywhere. Not willing to blindly charge into the pillar, not knowing where this portal led, Mara followed Toph instead. She heard rustling in the foliage up ahead, and smelled the unmistakable odor of burned flesh. Toph charged through some bushes into a small meadow, Mara came through after her, and both found Aang stumbling along, right before he collapsed and fell over his right arm.

"Aang!" Toph yelled, running over to where he fell. She placed a hand on him, and her unfocused eyes widened in shock. "Oh my… Aang!"

Mara watched her turn him over, and she saw that Aang was missing a hand. "That tends to happen around lightsabers."

The remaining hand was clutching the stump of an arm, and Aang saw Toph through vision starting to become blurry. "Toph… I'm sorry… I failed."

"We have to get you out of here," Toph said. She stomped her foot and a mound of earth rose upward, lifting all three of them a good six feet. "Just hang tight."

Toph made the mound move forward, slow at first but quickly gaining speed, heading straight for the nearest exit from the forest. Their passage tore through the main dirt path, shredding roots and bushes that were in the way. Mara spotted their discarded winter coats coming up, and was grateful that Toph slowed down enough to let her scoop them up. She cut off one of the sleeves with her lightsaber, and wrapped the sleeve around Aang's arm as a crude bandage. By the time she finished Toph had gotten them to the edge of the forest, and the temperature was dropping quickly.

"Slow down," Mara said. She was forcing a coat onto Aang's limp body. "We can't afford to freeze."

Feeling the chill already, Toph agreed and stopped the moving mound. "Yeah, point taken."

Toph took one of the coats for herself, quickly covering up before the chill could set in. That left the coat missing a sleeve for Mara, resulting in her right arm getting cold. She didn't like needing to use the damaged coat, but could deal with the discomfort for now. They made sure Aang was properly covered, being the most vulnerable right now, needing the most care. Then Toph made the mound move again, plowing through the tundra as they left the forest, creating a spray of ice and snow and frozen dirt in her wake.

Then Mara spotted something very peculiar. "Turn left."

"Kay," Toph said, making the mound turn left. She was having trouble telling what was up ahead, as the vibrations weren't very clear in ice and snow. "What do you see over there?"

In the light of the aurora in the sky, brighter than before if Mara wasn't mistaken, she saw a customized TIE Fighter parked on the tundra. "That's Darth Vader's ship."

"Ah…" Toph said. She made the mound go a little faster. "Let's strand him here."

* * *

Emerging from the portal on the other side, Darth Vader found himself in a strange place.

It appeared to be flat plains that stretched almost to the horizon, framed by a variety of cragged mountains on every horizon. Half of it was flooded with water, flowing in narrow channels through slightly wider swaths of land. There was a pattern to the land and the water, though a higher perspective was needed to make sense of it. Half of it was centered on the red pillar of light behind him, and the other half centered on a blue pillar in the distance. In between the pillars was a pile of rocks with an ancient tree planted on it, with gnarled bark and twisted branches, and a deep red glow.

But it wasn't the sights that had his attention, but what he felt through the Force.

This place _was_ the Force.

Everything here, from the rocks to the water and even the air, was made of the energy that bound the universe together. This was the Force given form, its resemblance to the material plane being surface deep. Raw power coursed through everything here, able to be shaped through sheer force of will. Only once before, back in the Clone Wars, did he come across a place like this, and since that time he believed it had been nothing more than a shared dream. But this was very real, this place the people of Earth referred to as the spirit world.

Yet despite finally reaching this place, Vader was weary as he ventured further in. The exhaustion from battling Aang was catching up to him, and he was well aware of the damage inflicted on him. An exposed eye, a mangled arm, battered and seared armor, he was going to need a complete overhaul to repair everything. Adjusting his suit's systems helped to alleviate the pain, but his lungs still burned and his eye stung from exposure. Vader embraced the pain, letting it fuel his anger, strengthening his connection to the Force all around him.

" **Welcome."**

The deep voice came from up ahead, reverberating with power akin to a primordial force of nature. It was from the tree, and as Vader approached he saw a hollow in the trunk. There was a red veil across the hollow, and something was trapped inside. There was a single diamond shaped eye, surrounded by broad red lines like an upside down face, painted on a deep black form. Beneath the flipped face the markings were like the bones of an ancient fish, and the black form behind it filled the entire hollow of the tree.

Vader stood in front of the tree, looking at the eye in the hollow. "We meet at last."

* * *

It did not take long for TIE Fighters to fly through the clear blue sky.

Sokka heard the little ships long before he saw them, and they were coming in from the east. "We need to get out of here."

Katara heard the approaching ships too, and she let out a very deep sigh. "Yeah, just give me a minute."

By now they had gotten the burn on Luke's back bandaged, and done the same to the burn on his foot, enough to protect the burns from infection. Katara had gotten a few minutes to rest, tired from her work with healing, though it was still far from done. She stood up, waved her arms around, summoning what little water remained in the charred forest, pulling it up from the burned ground. There was enough to make a small raft of ice floating on a thin layer of water, forming underneath Luke and gently raising him up.

Katara stood on the left side and Sokka stood on the right, ice morphing around their feet to hold them in place, and Katara made the water flow to carry them along. The pillar of light was at their backs as they rode the ice raft, taking what remained of the path through the now burned forest. Sokka kept a look out for anything that might try to stop them, much easier to do now with the midnight sun in the sky and no foliage to block the view. There were very few dark places now, only narrow shadows beneath the charred treetops.

Spirits were in those shadows, watching Sokka and Katara as they passed by. Sokka had remembered to grab the chaingun blaster before leaving, and he held it up while expecting an attack. He saw a variety of eyes looking out from the shadows, yet they didn't appear to be mad about the destruction of the forest. Indifferent at best, the spirits appeared less translucent and more solid, more like actual animals instead of supernatural beings. Some were looking up instead of at them, eyeing the dim bands of aurora peeking through the daytime sky, as if enthralled by the colors.

"I don't like the look of that," Sokka said, pointing out the watching spirits to Katara. "I think that light is affecting them somehow."

"Do you think they're going to attack us?" Katara asked.

"I'm not sure," Sokka said. He kept his hands on the chaingun blaster. "I hope not."

By then they were approaching the edge of the forest, which was still burning and billowing smoke into the sky. Katara intensified her waterbending, creating a burst of speed to get through the blaze, passing through a narrow gap to reach the other side. The difference was like night and day, going from scorched earth to thick ice and snow. With far more water to use, Katara made a river to carry the ice raft, and now they could move much faster. They left the burning remnants of the forest behind, yet the pillar of light could still be seen for quite some distance.

Now there were tiny ships flying through the sky by the dozen, all heading toward the light. Sokka kept his eyes on them now, though they seemed to be unaware of the people below. "We need to find some shelter before they realize we're down here."

Katara made the ice raft stop. "Yeah, sure, it'll just be a moment."

There was a large snowbank nearby, and Katara waterbent a small frozen cave out of it. She brought the ice raft into the cave, and then she removed the ice holding her and Sokka's feet to the raft. Once inside and free to move around Katara closed the entrance to this cave, leaving a hole just big enough to let air and light inside. Sokka wished he had grabbed some branches to make a fire, but would have to make do with body heat in a small space. He checked over Luke, relieved that he appeared to be stable, though for how long he couldn't be certain.

Slumped down on the side of the cave, Katara was already falling asleep. "Wake me when it's night…"

Sokka glanced through the hole at midnight daytime, and when he turned back his sister was sleeping. "That's not for another week…"

* * *

The little ship was surprisingly spacious.

Sure the cockpit was only big enough for one person, but the chamber behind it could hold a handful of people. Mara and Toph had to hoist Aang up and into that chamber, and they closed the ship's hatch behind them. Aang was placed in one of the corners, Toph took off her coat and put it on Aang to give him extra warmth, and Mara went through the next hatch to enter the cockpit. Mara closed that hatch behind her, leaving Toph alone with Aang while she got to work. Soon enough the ship rumbled and lifted off from the tundra, flying off into the colorful night sky.

Toph was not happy with the ground falling away, but set her concerns aside when she noticed Aang beginning to stir. "Aang, it's okay, you're with us. You're safe."

Despite being wrapped up two coats, Aang still shivered despite the heat. "Where… where are we?"

"We stole Vader's ship," Toph answered. She noticed Aang trying to get the coats off, and she grabbed the shoulders to keep them on. "Don't move. You're hurt pretty bad."

Aang kept fiddling with the coats anyway, struggling with a single hand. "I noticed…"

He got his left arm free, and winced when he saw the makeshift bandage on the stump. Aang closed his eyes, and he could almost imagine feeling from the missing hand, getting the sense of pain from the missing appendage. He sighed, opened his eyes, and gently started removing the bandage. Toph was about to stop him, but figured Aang had to have his reasons. The bandage came off easily enough, no blood to be found, and Aang saw the burn that cauterized the wound shut. The memory flashed, Aang winced, reliving the event in his mind.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Toph asked.

"No," Aang answered.

With his hand Aang reached around himself, slowly making subtle hand gestures to waterbend. Snow tracked in on Toph's boots melted and flowed to Aang's hand, coating it in a thin film of water. He struggled to keep his focus, and this was a technique he rarely used, but managed to make the water glow a dim blue with the power of healing. He gently placed his hand on the stump, the glow brightened a little bit, and Aang winced when he felt a bit of pain. The healing lasted for a few moments, until the water was gone, and the burn was slightly less red than before.

Drained of what little strength he had left, Aang slumped back and let his head rest against the wall. "Katara makes that look so easy…"

Toph sat down next to him, one arm draped over her knees. "I didn't realize you could heal."

"Any waterbender can do it," Aang said. He sighed and put his hand over his eyes. "But I hardly ever needed to and I don't practice very often. Now I wish I did."

There was a moment of silence between them, and Toph turned away. "I don't think you're fixing that."

Aang looked down at the stump again, imagining the missing hang and feeling phantom pain. "Yeah…"

By now the TIE Fighter was soaring through the upper atmosphere, and both of them felt their earthbending leave them. Aang's airbending was not far behind, though water and fire remained with him. They didn't have a view of space from in here, no windows for Aang to look through, but he could imagine the Earth hanging in the void. Toph looked ready to pass out, and Aang wasn't faring much better. But worse than the pain was the feeling of failure, of abandoning Earth yet again, with consequences even more dire.

Toph turned toward Aang and put a hand on his shoulder. "This is worse than it seems, isn't it."

"Yeah," Aang answered. He wrapped his arms tight around his chest. "When I was fighting down there, in the Avatar State, I had visions. I saw the thing Vader wants to release."

"Really?" Toph asked. "What was it?"

* * *

" **I am Vaatu."**

The spirit trapped in the tree was quite cordial to Vader, speaking politely and being very friendly. Vader sensed malevolence within this spirit, but no deception whatsoever, it was truly grateful to have someone to speak with it. Vaatu couldn't act directly from imprisonment within the tree, but could extend his influence into others, and now Vader realized that his attraction to the portals had come from him. But Vaatu had no control over the portals, and had no choice but to wait for Vader to open them on his own terms.

" **I am very impressed with your accomplishment,"** Vaatu continued, his single diamond eye fixed on Vader's exposed eye. **"I had feared that only Raava could open the portals. When you did not attempt to trick her vessel into opening them, I had thought I would remain for another ten thousand years. Never have I been so pleased to be wrong."**

"I do not know what this Raava is," Vader admitted.

" **Raava is my counterpart,"** Vaatu said. His eye darted to the side. **"We have company."**

Vader turned toward the other portal, the column of blue light shining into the sky. There was a bright shimmer at the base, and someone came through into the spirit world. It wasn't who Vader was expecting, not the young Skywalker sure to be curious about this place, but someone that should be standing guard on the other side. It was the lackey he had pulled from the labs on Coruscant, barely remembering the name of Ozai. He appeared to have been scuffed up a bit, clearing having done some fighting today.

As he walked into this bizarre place, Ozai saw Vader standing next to the tree. Ozai stopped in his tracks, startled by the sight of Vader. Anger and hate welled up in him, wanting nothing more than to see Vader dead. Then he noticed the damage Vader had sustained, far more than he had suffered today. The eye in particular looked plenty vulnerable, given that he could actually see it now. It proved that Vader could be injured, that his power had limits, and that he was at his weakest at this very moment.

This was his chance to be rid of Vader once and for all.

Already charging a large bolt of lightning, Ozai took aim at Vader, going for that control panel bolted to his waist. He fired the bolt and it seared through the air, crossing the distance between them in nearly an instant. But Vader already had his lightsaber activated, and he blocked the lightning with the blade, and electricity arced out in several directions before going into the ground. Ozai shot one lightning bolt after another, taking steps forward with every shot, getting closer and closer during this lightning assault.

Vader stood his ground, holding back the successive lightning bolts with his lightsaber, his exposed eye closing in the glare from all the light. The massive amount of electricity warped the lightsaber in several directions, nearly overloading the weapon, barely holding together under the strain. Some electricity arced into his damaged arm, surging through the wires and inflicting further damage, along with quite a lot of pain. He held the lightsaber as far out as he could, keeping the bulk of the electricity away, and waited for Ozai to come even closer.

"You are wasting my time," Vader said.

He reached forward, clenched a fist, and raised it upward. Ozai was flung into the air, his latest lightning bolt going straight into the ground as a result, and he flipped end over end. Vader pulled in his fist, Ozai fell toward him at high speed, until he stuck his hand out to make him stop just out of arm's reach. Slowly clenching his fingers, Vader choked Ozai through the Force, stretching it out for maximum agony. Ozai's feet dangled in the air, his hands clutched at the invisible grip at his throat, seemingly unable to conjure flames while he couldn't breathe.

" **Do not kill him… yet."**

Vader turned his head toward Vaatu. "I trust there is a reason."

" **No point in letting him go to waste."**

Not sure what to make of that, Vader kept his strangle hold on Ozai for a little while longer, waiting until his face turned blue and he passed out. He let go of the Force and dropped Ozai to the ground, hearing very weak breaths from him. That was when Vader noticed the lightsaber in Ozai's pocket, and he used the Force to summon the lightsaber to his hand. He looked at the lightsaber in close detail, recognizing the design from another lifetime. It was his, from his old life as a Jedi, before his former master took it from him before leaving him to die.

Vader put that lightsaber next to his, and turned toward Vaatu again. "Now then, where were we?"

* * *

While Luke was out cold and Katara was sleeping, Sokka got to work.

He carefully searched through the pockets of Luke's clothes, or what was left of them anyway. It took a few minutes to find a communicator in them, and Sokka sat down to tinker with it. The little device looked simple enough to operate, flick a switch to turn it on and hold down a button to talk. He assumed it was set to a rebel frequency, there was no reason for anything else, not intentional anyway. Sokka hesitated to use it, worrying about all the possible ways this could blow up in his face, but he needed to go through with it.

Sokka turned on the communicator and hoped someone was listening. "Hello. Is anyone receiving this? It's Sokka, speaking on Skywalker's behalf."

He didn't have to wait more than half a minute for a voice to come through. _"Yes, Sokka, can confirm. Please state the purpose of your transmission."_

"I need to talk with Leia," Sokka said. "Please, it's urgent."

" _Leia is a busy woman,"_ the voice said. _"You're going to have to give me a very good reason."_

"I'm right next to Luke Skywalker, the entire reason this truce exists," Sokka said. "And he's severely injured, Leia needs to know, so put me through to her now!"

There was a very brief silence as the demand was consider, and the radio operator got to work. _"Just a moment, I'll connect you."_

He had to wait a few minutes, and then the voice of Leia came through the communicator. _"Sokka, what's going on over there?"_

"Luke's hurt pretty badly," Sokka reported. He heard a gasp from Leia. "He's stable for now, but I don't know how long that will last."

" _What the hell happened?"_ Leia demanded.

"He got a lightning bolt in the back," Sokka said. "He's lucky to be alive, or it's that whole Force thing at work, I don't know, doesn't matter. The real problem is that Vader got what he wanted and our ace in the hole is out cold. We're completely screwed down here."

It seemed like Leia was ready to curse, but was holding it in for her own sake. _"Where are you?"_

Sokka heard several ships fly by overhead, close enough for their passage to shake the walls of this ice shelter. "Pinned down. I honestly don't see a way out of this. Not without screwing you guys over."

There was a pause on the other end, and he imagined Leia checking the situation up in space. _"Everything we do is being monitored by that Super Star Destroyer. They're probably listening in as we speak. That's assuming they aren't trying to jam us yet."_

Sokka didn't want to admit it, but there was really only one option for any of them. "You need to take that big ship of yours and get out of here. Vader doesn't need that truce anymore."

" _I don't like the idea of leaving you guys behind,"_ Leia said. _"If we can set up an extraction point, maybe we can-"_

Harsh static cut her off, and Sokka gritted his teeth in frustration. He hit the side of the communicator, but that didn't get the signal back. "Great, it's already started."

* * *

The flight seemed to be taking too long, and Aang tapped Toph on the shoulder. "Help me up. I want to get to the cockpit."

Toph was already getting Aang's arm around her shoulders. "Kay."

She stood up, bringing Aang up with her, easily carrying the weight. Toph slowly walked over to the inner hatch, and Aang limped along with her. Aang closed his eyes, weakly stomped a foot on the floor, getting a pale and brief image through vibration sight. In that image he saw Mara at the controls, gently navigating the ship through the void, making gentle turns back and forth. But he couldn't see anything outside the ship, and wanted a better view from inside the cockpit. But when Toph went to open the hatch it remained closed, much to Aang's frustration.

Aang knocked on the hatch with his fist. "Can you let us in please?"

There was no response.

Toph knocked even harder. "If you don't open up we'll have to break in there ourselves."

Still, there was nothing from the other side.

"Why isn't she answering?" Aang wondered aloud. He knocked again, but still got no answer. "What's going on in there?"

Hearing the knocking but refusing to acknowledge it, Mara kept her focus on flying the ship. It was well beyond the planet's atmosphere, heading off into space on a vector back to imperial territory. Directly ahead were the two massive ships still in standoff, the _Executor_ and whatever the rebels considered to be a flagship. Being in Vader's personal ship, she had to pilot very carefully, needing to make it look like Vader was returning to the _Executor_. It was made difficult by several hailing signals sent her way, likely to coordinate Vader's return, and answering would give her away in an instant.

Once again, Mara had a choice to make. It was the same choice, whether or not to keep her allies of convenience alive or silence them permanently. Her cover had been blown, and that alone would normally be reason enough to kill them. But she had witnessed the power Aang had to offer, power that her master could certainly put to good use. Of course they weren't going to be happy about it, but they really didn't have a say in the matter. It seemed that they lacked their abilities in space, as they hadn't simply forced their way inside by now.

The _Executor_ was still sending hailing signals to the ship, and they were sure to suspect something very soon. "And this is time to leave…"

Mara turned the ship away from the _Executor_ , though just by the ever so slightest, enough to get around the massive ship. The rebel ship was just past it, and Mara accounted for that obstacle as well. That was when sensors detected the launch of TIE Fighters, a dozen of them on intercept course. Mara realized she was out of time, had the navigation computer set, and pushed forward the little lever to engage the hyperdrive. The stars turned into streaks, and the ship plunged into the blue void of hyperspace, course set for Coruscant.

She heard a loud thud against the hatch, and Mara imagined Aang collapsing on the other side. "Get comfortable back there. We're in for a long trip."

* * *

" **Nearly ten thousand years ago, I was trapped in this tree by Raava, seemingly for eternity."**

Now that there weren't any more interruptions, Vaatu believed Vader deserved to know the truth.

" **Raava had merged with a human to defeat me, fueling his elemental abilities with her raw power. Their union made Raava powerful enough to seal me away, and then Raava closed the spirit portals so that I could not escape this prison."**

Vader looked at both portals in turn, and he remembered Aang's attempt to reseal the northern portal. "Now that they are open, are you able to break free under your own power?"

" **I will be at the next Harmonic Convergence. That is when the planets align and spiritual energies are at their greatest. The portals will connect, the power will flow to me, and I will break free."**

"And when will that be?" Vader asked.

" **Alas, the planets will not align for another seventy years,"** Vaatu said. And yet, Vader could feel the confidence exuding from this spirit. **"And yet I believe you are not willing to wait."**

"Of course not," Vader said. He held his hands apart and looked at the sky. "The Force was able to open your portals. I believe the Force can join them as well."

Vader slowly raised his hands, focusing on his connection to the Force, feeling it all around him. His influence spread out into his surroundings, to a greater extent than ever before, bathing in the raw power permeating this place. Left hand toward the red portal, right hand toward the blue portal, Vader gripped them both with the Force, fingers coiling together. There was resistance, the invisible tether pulling back against him, but Vader would not let that deter him. The Force was strong here, and Vader felt more powerful than ever.

The pillar of red light bent to the right, the pillar of blue light bent to the left, a little at first but steadily bending further. Vader brought his hands together, and the ends of the pillars came together, turning golden where they touched. The golden light spread down the length of both pillars, crashing into the base of both portals, and the energy between them flowed freely. The new arch of golden light was wreathed in lightning, and the bolts rained down on the tree, transferring power through the trunk into the spirit within.

Bright red light shined from the hollow of the tree, Vaatu's power growing beyond the barrier's ability to contain. The barrier shattered and Vaatu emerged from the hollow, expanding to immense size and flying into the sky, billowing out like some massive kite in the wind. Tendrils stretched out from every edge of his flat form, and the red lines on both sides were far more elaborate now, like a complete skeleton of an ancient fish. After stretching to his maximum size Vaatu turned around, coming back down to the ground to look at Vader up close.

" **Free at last,"** Vaatu said. That single diamond eye of his met Vader's gaze. **"I am truly in your debt. And I will repay it in full."**

Vader released his grip on the Force, yet the portals did not separate, the golden arch of light seemingly self-sustaining for now. "I desire the power you possess to augment my own."

" **I would grant nothing less,"** Vaatu said. He was incapable of smiling, but the sense of satisfaction exuded from him. **"You have seen the power Raava grants her vessel. I can do the same for you."**

Remembering the glowing eyes of his surprisingly powerful foe, Vader nodded. "And how can I trust that this is not some kind of trick?"

One could almost see a smirk in that visage of Vaatu. **"If you and I are one,** _ **truly**_ **one, trust won't be an issue, will it?"**

Vader sensed true honesty from Vaatu, not a hint of deception whatsoever. "Very well."

Vaatu ascended into the air, turned and swooped back down toward Vader. Colliding into him head on, Vaatu's ethereal form phased into Vader's physical body, with bright light shining from where they made contact. All of Vaatu vanished within Vader, the exposed eye glowed bright red, and the visage of Vaatu appeared on Vader's chest. The spirit world moved around him, bringing him to the northern spirit portal, and he placed a hand on the column of light. Purple light emerged and spread up his arm, then to every part of his body, both flesh and mechanical, and the light shot from his eye into the sky.

Raw power coursed through Vader's body, saturating the scarred scraps of flesh within the mechanical frame. As the physical and the spiritual joined together, so too did the organic and the technological, merging man and machine. New flesh spread down his arms and legs, filling in the gaps of the artificial limbs, and the metal warped into biological counterparts. Scarred tissue reformed into healthy flesh, restoring the burned organs and healing decades old wounds. His entire body morphed into a technorganic whole, better able to harness the power flowing through him.

The light ceased. All went quiet. A damaged helmet fell to the ground. Deep breaths broke the silence. Not mechanical, but natural, the air rushing into restored lungs. It was slow at first, but quickened as Vader grew accustomed to it. He walked to the edge of a stream and looked at his reflection in the water, seeing a face he hadn't seen in decades. It was the face of Anakin Skywalker, albeit with patches of metal skin around the edges, and hair just starting to regrow. The eyes glowed bright red for a moment, a brief display of the power he now wielded.

Darth Vader looked flexed his fingers, enjoying the sensation of the flesh, and smiled to himself. "We are now one. This world… no… this galaxy is ours to rule as the Sith Avatar."


	43. In The Lion-Bear's Den

Chapter 43: In The Lion-Bear's Den

Stranded on the line between dreams and reality, Luke was wishing he had someone important to him right now. "Leia…"

His weak groans were instantly heard by Sokka, who was immediately at his side. "Yeah, I got a hold of her. But there isn't really anything she can do for us."

Sokka felt the ground shake beneath his feet, and it was followed by a sinking feeling in his gut. The light in this ice cave dimmed, and he looked through the little hole to see what was going on. The bright sky of midnight sun was turning dark, starting from the south and spreading to the north, and filling the sky with long bands of aurora. He figured it must have started from the portal, though why it took so long to affect the world was a mystery to him. It may very well be caused by something on the other side, if that bad feeling he had was any indication.

"What in the world is going on?" Sokka wondered.

"We have… to get to Leia…" Luke muttered

"I don't see that happening," Sokka said. He got over to his sister, still sleeping off the fatigue, and gently shook her by the shoulder. "Hey, Katara, it's night, or close enough to it."

It took a moment, but Katara did rise from sleep. "Ugh… Sokka, what's going on?"

"We need to move," Sokka said. "It's not safe here."

"Like it's safe anywhere," Katara grumbled.

There were TIE Fighters and imperial shuttles passing by overhead, much closer to the ground than before, all heading south. Katara got up and got to work, waterbending the walls of this ice cave into a liquid shell around everyone. Then she melted the snow and ice to the north, making a path beneath the surface of the tundra, and had the water carry them along like a slow river. Hopefully there would be no sign of their passage from above, not even a ripple in the snowbanks. Katara filled in the space behind them with solid ice, just in case someone found their initial hiding place.

It was slow going, doing so much bending at once, but Katara managed to keep a steady pace. "This is going to take forever to get anywhere."

"I know," Sokka said. He kept a hand on Luke as they floated along this sub-tundra river, keeping an eye on the bandaged wound. "But I'm pretty sure they're looking for us, and I'd rather not be caught."

Luke tried to lift his head, but then it fell back, and his grasp on the waking world slipped away. "Leia…"

* * *

Sensors aboard _Home One_ lit up like a world of fireworks.

Leia was watching from her post on the bridge, just after the call from Sokka had been cut off by interference. The ship was detecting twin energy bursts of unknown type, originating from the poles of Earth, spreading across the planet to meet at the equator. On visual sensors it looked like the planet was being wrapped in a dark veil, with bands of aurora stretching into the tropics, sure to be a spectacular light show to the people beneath them. Leia couldn't make heads of tails out of the sensor readings, having nothing in her experience to compare them to.

It had the imperials' attention, that much was certain. That Super Star Destroyer was deploying fighters and transports by the dozen, all of them heading toward Earth. Leia didn't order any rebel ships to the planet, certain that she would be throwing them away for nothing. She was certain this truce was about to end, and she was going to need every last ship at her disposal. She had everyone aboard _Home One_ preparing for battle, all rebel fighters on standby, all cannons primed and ready to fire, shields ready to be raised at a moment's notice.

While she watched the bridge officers at work, Leia got on the radio. "Han, Chewbacca, if either of you can hear me, get the hell out of there now."

" _Kind of difficult right now,"_ Han said, seemingly out of breath. Leia could hear him frantically working on something through the radio. _"_ Falcon _'s surrounded by stormtroopers, and the TIE Fighters are taking off all around us. We'll be shot down the moment we try to take off."_

"Surely you have more tricks up your sleeve," Leia said.

" _Fresh out,"_ Han said. _"Haven't been in a spot this tight since the Death Star, and that time they let us go. I don't think they'll do that twice."_

Leia suppressed a grunt of frustration, but still slammed her hand against the radio controls. "I'll think of something. If you see an opportunity to get out there, don't hesitate."

Han laughed through the radio, though his heart wasn't in it. _"I never do."_

* * *

Desperate times called for desperate measures.

Han never liked that phrase, but it certainly fit his current situation. For all intents and purposes he and Chewbacca had been abandoned in this massive imperial ship, all the important people brought with them having left earlier that day, leaving him with just the rebel fighters brought along for escort. There was no way to get the _Falcon_ out of this hangar without it getting destroyed, too many blasters both inside and outside of the hangar, ready to blast his ship to pieces. Those rebel fighters weren't going to hold off stormtroopers for long, should they decide to take the _Falcon_ intact.

Standing in the cockpit of the _Falcon_ , Han finished the last of some hastily made modifications. "Alright everyone, say your prayers now, Force be with you and whatnot. There's no going back from this."

Han pressed a button to set things in motion, and then left the cockpit as quick as he could. He came across Chewbacca, clearly upset about what they were doing, but understanding that it was their best chance for getting out of here alive. The two dozen rebels aboard were heading out as well, marching out of the _Falcon_ as if a formal delegation, though most figured they weren't very convincing. They were met by a legion of stormtroopers, all aiming blasters at the rebels, and they stopped in their tracks with Han and Chewbacca in the middle.

Rather than get gunned down by all the stormtroopers, Han raised his hands above his head. "Don't shoot. We surrender."

The stormtroopers had been carrying enough manacles for everyone, seemingly with intent to imprison everyone from the _Falcon_. Han did nothing to dissuade the stormtroopers from taking them prison, though Chewbacca made his complaints very clear to those that spoke wookie. Everyone was escorted away from the _Falcon_ , and other stormtroopers marched into the ship. Han kept track of the time, hoping that the stormtroopers wouldn't realize what was going on, not before it was too late to do anything.

After being taken out of the hanger and now well on their way to the brig, Han muttered something under his breath. "Ten… nine…"

Stormtroopers inside the Falcon entered the cockpit, and they saw the jury-rigged mess of a control panel. One of them tilted his head to one side. "What did they do to the hyperdrive con- oh no…"

Normally, automatic safety features would have prevented this. Han had long since disabled them, in the name of making the _Falcon_ go faster. So when the jury-rigged setup bypassed the controls, the hyperdrive engaged without a problem. The _Falcon_ 's main engines ignited, casting bright light in the hanger, right before the ship made the jump to hyperspace, _inside_ the _Executor_. Like a bullet fired at point blank range, the _Falcon_ shot through the length of the hangar, ripping apart everything around it in the attempt to enter hyperspace.

The entire ship shook violently, Han was knocked off his feet, and everything went to hell.

* * *

If Leia hadn't been watching, she wouldn't have believed it.

Everyone on the bridge saw it through the viewscreen, a bright streak of light crossing the length of the Super Star Destroyer, like the streak of a ship making the jump to hyperspace. It left a long trail of destruction in its wake, obliterating most of the hangar before punching through the base of the command tower, coming out just above the massive engines. A massive gash exposed the interior of the ship, and successive explosions inflicted further damage. Tons of wreckage spilled out from the rear of the ship, all of it shredded into itty bitty pieces by the physics of the impact.

Leia found herself staring at the destruction. "What just happened over there?"

"Looks like a massive explosion," one officer reported.

"I can see that," Leia said. "I want to know what did that."

"I don't think they're going to give us time to figure it out," another officer said.

That much was obvious, and Leia found herself in a bad situation. If the truce hadn't been about to fall apart before, it was certainly over now. "Deploy all fighters, aim all cannons, target that gash."

Every X-Wing and Y-Wing in _Home One_ 's hangar took flight, rushing out into space to engage the enemy. Shields were raised, cannons acquired target lock, and every rebel blaster with a clear shot opened fire. A hail of blaster bolts crossed the void between ships, hitting the _Executor_ hundreds at a time, focused on the gash in the dorsal hull. It seemed the enemy hadn't raised shields yet, or couldn't as a result of current damage. The opening salvo tore into the imperial ship, blasting apart the exposed interior, furthering the chain reaction that was tearing the ship apart.

Watching the beginning of the battle, Leia hoped she hadn't made a big mistake.

* * *

All alarms blaring in his ears, Admiral Ozzel was absolutely furious.

He had almost been ready to end this façade of a truce, having the distinct feeling that Darth Vader no longer required it, if the unusual sensor readings from Earth were anything to go on. But then something tore his ship apart from the inside, and had done so in a very violent fashion. The initial detonation shook the ship so hard it knocked everyone off their feet, set off every alarm the ship had, and smaller tremors continued to rock the ship. Reports were coming in immediately, none of them good news, detailing the extent of the damage.

The hangar was nearly completely destroyed, every TIE fighter, bomber, and shuttle inside annihilated with it. Several sections adjacent and several decks below the hangar had been destroyed as well, and everyone inside had been sucked out into the vacuum of space, if their bodies weren't vaporized first. Further from the now-missing hangar structural integrity was virtually non-existent, resulting in the middle of the ship gradually imploding on itself. Then there was the giant hole in the base of the command tower, effectively cutting it off from the rest of the ship.

And now the rebels were attacking.

"Recall every fighter planetside!" Admiral Ozzel ordered. "Engage the rebels with everything we still have! And get those shields up!"

"Dorsal generators are not responding!" someone reported.

"Rotate the ship and turn to starboard!" Ozzel ordered. "Get the ventral hull between us and them!"

That was easier said than done. Given the sheer size of the _Executor_ , all maneuvers appeared to happen in slow motion to outside observers. Dorsal thrusters were not responding, forcing the ventral thrusters to do all the work, slowing down the ship even further. The enemy fighters could maneuver faster than the _Executor_ , and they continued to fire away at the damaged parts of the ship. And while the ship turned the rebel flagship was firing away with its cannons, pummeling away at the _Executor_ while it struggled to turn.

The first squad of the previously deployed TIE Fighters arrived, which Ozzel saw through the large windows. "Good, that will buy us some time."

* * *

It got very quiet all of a sudden.

"Wait, stop," Sokka said, holding up a hand. "Something's changed."

Katara brought their slow underground river to a stop, and she sat down to rest. Luke was out cold again, though he seemed stable given his wounds. Sokka gently dug through the snow above them, taking care not to make the roof collapse on them, going through a foot of snow before seeing the sky. He stuck his head out, looked around, and spotted a few dark specks in the strangely dark blue sky. He could just barely make them out as TIE Fighters, before they vanished into the lights of strange aurora. He didn't see any other ships, didn't hear any either, only the breeze wafting through his air.

Sokka dropped back inside, and he sat down next to his sister. "I don't know why, but all the ships up there are gone. We have a chance to cover more ground quickly before they come back."

After a long groan Katara forced herself onto her feet, feeling a variety of aches and pains in her exhausted arms and legs. "After this one, I'm going to need a very long nap."

She got to work melting ice and snow around her, building up a small reservoir behind and beneath them. Once she had enough she melted the ceiling, all that water burst out onto the surface, carrying the ice raft with everyone on it. Disregarding all pretense of stealth, Katara focused on speed more than anything, and her shallow river carried them along with haste. It took everything she had left to keep this up for any length of time, but they covered more ground in five minutes than in the last two hours, heading straight north across the tundra.

Then Sokka spotted buildings on the horizon. "We're almost at civilization, just a little bit further."

Not certain if their current speed was enough, Katara pushed herself to her limit, getting the shallow river to flow even faster. Those buildings came into clearer view, several dozen in fact, belonging to a small city built over the last few years. Yet it was not imperial architecture, but Water Tribe instead, a sight for sore eyes in Sokka's opinion. He couldn't stare at it the entire time, needing to crouch down and grab hold of Luke, making sure he didn't slip off the ice raft. But the exhaustion was catching up with Katara, and they were nearly there when she collapsed.

The shallow river broke apart, the water spreading out in all directions, and the ice raft crashed into the frozen ground. Sokka caught Katara as she fell, his back slammed into the ground, and he was hurting pretty bad from the impact. Luke went sliding off to one side, woken up from the impact and letting out a yell of pain, a match for the scream Sokka was making. After a short slide they came to a stop, though all of them were still in one piece. Sokka's head was leaning back, giving him an upside down view of the buildings, and the people drawn by the noise.

They looked like regular Water Tribe folk, and Sokka could swear he might have recognized a few, if they had been little kids a few years back. "Hey. Sorry to drop in like this."

One of the young preteen boys turned around and yelled. "Someone get Gran-Gran!"

Sokka's eyes went wide, realizing what this place used to be. "I guess we're home?"

* * *

 _Home One_ was inflicting quite a beating on the _Executor_.

Leia was watching the battle from the bridge, giving orders when necessary, coordinating everything with the officers around her. She could vaguely see the dogfights between X-Wings and TIE Fighters, the crisscrossing blaster bolts putting on a spectacular light show, all while _Home One_ 's cannons pummeled away at that Super Star Destroyer. It was trying to turn its heavily damaged dorsal flank away from the battle, about halfway through the slow maneuver. But the damage was already spreading to the interior of the ship, reaching critical decks and essential systems, well past the point of no return.

After giving out yet another order Leia got back on the radio. "Han, if you're still alive over there, answer me."

There was no response, only static from the frequency for the _Falcon_.

"This is not the time for awkward silence," Leia said. Still, she heard nothing but static, and that pit in her stomach was only getting bigger. "Get out of there any way you can. That ship is going down and you don't want to be in it."

Still not getting any response on that frequency, Leia had to assume the worst about Han's situation. She turned her attention back to the battle, the X-Wings and Y-Wings currently having the upper hand over the TIE Fighters. The rebel ships were flying in formation and shooting down enemy fighters by the dozen, quickly widening their advantage in numbers. But the TIE Fighters were inflicting plenty of casualties, several rebel fighters being shot down and destroyed, and Leia winced as the losses were reported.

But that Super Star Destroyer was still turning, almost to the point where Leia could see along its edge. It was starting to get the damaged side out of the firing line, and turning the intact half into the battle. Ventral shields and blaster cannons were operational, the latter already taking aim and _Home One_ , in the process of acquiring target lock. It was almost ready to fire back, even with power failures throughout the massive ship. Even a crippled Super Star Destroyer was more than a match for _Home One_ , should it bring its operational weapons to bear.

"Get the fighters back in the hangar," Leia ordered. She saw some confused looks coming her way. "We've done all the damage we can. We have to leave before they can hurt us back."

The order was given, and Leia could only watch it be carried out. There were plenty of complaints over the radio chatter, proud pilots believing they had the upper hand, wanting to shoot down every TIE Fighter they possibly could. But they complied and disengaged the enemy, flying back to the hangar, evading shots from pursuers. _Home One_ was already turning away from the enemy ship, the navigation computer already plotting a course to friendly territory. By then it was starting to take shots from the enemy ship's ventral cannons, and the shields weren't going to last long.

Leia couldn't help but clench a fist, hating herself for needing to do this. "Take us out."

Stars turned to streaks and then the blue void of hyperspace, with so many people left behind.

* * *

When Han came to, everything around him was a swirling mess.

Alarms were blaring in his ears, bright lights flashing in his eyes, floor panels vibrating beneath him, air rushing past his face, all of it out of focus after the black out. Then he remembered he was in a spaceship, and having any kind of breeze was a very bad sign. Stormtroopers and imperial crewmen were running by, fighting against the wind blowing the other way, evidently fleeing for their lives. It was like they thought he was dead, and the blood all over his face was very convincing. He certainly felt like he was dying, if the pain in every part of his body was any indication.

And then the ceiling tore away.

The vacuum of space sucked the air right out of this corridor, along with everything that wasn't bolted down. Han was pulled off the floor, only to be grabbed by a furry arm, and he saw Chewbacca holding on to him. The other furry arm was holding onto a control panel, right next to an open set of blast doors. Those doors were closing, and Chewbacca threw Han through them, then pulled himself through before the doors closed completely. Now inside an adjacent corridor, the wind stopped behind the closed doors, and Han fell to the floor and heard Chewbacca come down just after him.

By now Han was recovering his grip on reality, vision clearing and regaining his balance, standing up to face Chewbacca. "Thanks Chewy, you saved our lives there."

Chewbacca made a loud and somewhat annoyed growl.

"Could still die, yeah, that's fair," Han said. He wiped the blood from his face, and felt more coming out from what he assumed was a nasty gash near the hairline. "We need… we need to get off this ship."

Wind was picking up again, cracks in the bulkheads leaking air into space, another rupture just waiting to happen. Chewbacca grabbed Han by the arm and ran down the corridor, all but dragging him along and with surprising speed. Han didn't see any of the other rebels that had come along, and he could only assume the worst had happened to them. He did see imperial crewmen ahead of them, all running for their lives, stumbling as the ship shook over and over again. Chewbacca caught up and charged through those crewmen, free arm swinging back and forth to toss them away, hearing them scream as they fell.

Recovering enough to run on his own, Han grabbed a blaster from a fallen crewman, missing the one he left with Leia for safekeeping. "Okay Chewy, I hope you have an idea where to go. Cause I sure don't."

Chewbacca grabbed a blaster from some unfortunate sap, roaring something as he kept running.

"Uh-huh," Han muttered. He took aim with the stolen blaster. "Definitely the worst spot we've ever been in, by a long shot."

* * *

Just when the _Executor_ was in position to counterattack, the rebel ship made the jump to hyperspace.

Admiral Ozzel slammed his fist into a control panel. "Damn it!"

Adding to his anger was the constantly updating damage reports, growing worse and worse by the minute. The gash in the dorsal side was getting wider, longer, and deeper, the entire ship imploding on itself. Half of the ship had lost main power, and emergency power was barely operational in the damaged sections. Ruptures spreading across the hull shook the entire ship, even the command tower was not spared from the tremors. The hole in the base of the tower was spreading too, down toward the engines and up toward the bridge, effectively cut off from the rest of the _Executor_.

If there had been any chance of repairing the ship, the rebel assault had taken it away.

With the bridge shaking around him, the lights flickering with the power supply, Ozzel had to give the order that would make his life forfeit. "Abandon ship."

The order was announced throughout the ship, and the alarms changed to the evacuation klaxon. Crewmen that had been attempting to salvage the ship gave up on their futile efforts, now that they knew the admiral was aware the ship was too far gone to save. Everyone hurried to the closest escape pods, the vast majority still intact being on the ventral hull. It was going to be quite a trek for those deep within the ship, but it was either that or get sucked into space as the ship deteriorated, assuming they could run faster than the damage could spread.

There were escape pods near the bridge, and the officers inside left their posts to get to the pods. The sole exception was Admiral Ozzel, insisting that everyone else get out before him. Once the officers were out of the bridge Ozzel went to his chair, leaning back and waiting for the end to come. There was no point for him to make it off this ship, not when Vader would surely kill him for losing it. The bridge continued to shake around him, the alarms still blared in his ears, intensifying as time went by, the damage spreading all the way up here.

It was going to be a painful death, but better than what he would get from Vader.

* * *

Already trying to find a way off this ship, the evacuation alarm seemed unnecessary.

Han and Chewbacca were running as fast as they could, Han struggling to keep up with the wookie, certain it was the adrenaline keeping him going. With stolen blasters they were shooting at everyone that got in their way, and the few that survived long enough were tossed away by a very angry wookie on a rampage. Imperial crewmen and stormtroopers were already fleeing for their lives, and ran even faster from the threat behind them, not willing to waste time on a defense. The ship was already lost, and every precious second was needed to escape.

Yet no matter how fast Han and Chewbacca ran, it seemed like they weren't making any headway. The ship was massive, and imploding all around them, the damage spreading with no end in sight. And then main power failed, the corridor cast in darkness, until emergency lighting came on to provide dim red light. Even those started to flicker, emergency power faltering, in this part of the ship anyway. Han swore he felt lighter for seconds at a time, the artificial gravity fluctuating, only a matter of time before it failed altogether.

Han was shooting at anyone that happened to be ahead of them. "They've got to be around here somewhere!"

That was when Chewbacca spotted escape pods up ahead, or rather a long row of hatches where they were supposed to be. Only one still had a pod attached, the rest having already been launched. A dozen crewmen were trying to pack themselves into it, struggling to get everyone inside and still be able to close the hatch. Han and Chewbacca opened fire into the open pod, quickly killing the man trying to close the hatch and several others behind him. Further shooting could damage the pod, so Chewbacca reached in and pulled out bodies one by one, not caring if they were alive or dead.

Once the pod was empty Chewbacca grabbed Han and tossed him inside, his back slamming against the far hull. Chewbacca climbed inside and closed the hatch behind him, and just in time too. The whole pod shook violently, one could hear rushing air, and a few quickly silenced screams, followed by the silence of space. Chewbacca slammed a fist on the controls, ejecting the pod from the bulkhead into the void. It was immediately battered by debris, plenty of it floating outside the ship, some big enough to be a danger to escape pods.

Han sat down and leaned his head against the wall, nothing else either of them could do from here. "Hopefully they won't shoot down their own escape pods…"

There was a narrow window in the escape pod's hatch, apparently meant to let passengers know if they cleared the ship. They could see debris floating past, pieces of bulkhead and shredded cables, as well as a few bodies. The pod was shaking from time to time, knocked back and forth by the debris out there. Chewbacca used what little steering ability the pod had to navigate through the danger, having minimal thrusters and nothing more. As the pod drifted away the view gradually zoomed out, providing a better view of the _Executor_ , or what was left of it anyway.

Looking out the window, Han was glad to have gotten off when they did. "The damage looks even worse from out here."

Chewbacca grumbled something, still working at the pod's limited controls.

"I know, only one planet in reach," Han said. "Just a matter of where on Earth we'll crash land."

* * *

After everything that changed, one thing remained the same.

Sokka knew the face of his grandmother, just as she had been when he and Katara left the South Pole years ago, supporting their efforts to travel with the Avatar. He found her again inside one of the new buildings, which had replaced the ice huts of old, now that the southern tribe didn't have to worry about Fire Nation raids anymore. Gran-Gran was living in one of those buildings now, with plenty of care and support from her many relatives, grateful to see two of her grandchildren return home after all these years.

Sitting in a chair across from her grandson, Gran-Gran wasn't even trying to hold back her tears. "How are you feeling? You look like you've been put through the wringer a few times too many."

"You don't know the half of it," Sokka said. He turned his head to look at the bed they were sitting beside, with Katara in it sleeping soundly. "We've been through hell and back. For a while I thought I wasn't going to return."

"You made it home, that's what matters," Gran-Gran said. She placed a hand on Katara's shoulder. "I may have only heard rumors of what you've accomplished. But I am very proud of both of you."

Sokka reached over to hug his grandmother.

When they were finished, Gran-Gran turned toward the other bed in the room. "So who's your friend?"

Luke was resting in the other bed, his wounds tended to by the healers Gran-Gran had on hand. The bandages had been changed out and the burns cleaned properly, along with a variety of ointments applied to help flesh heal faster. It seemed they had gotten him treatment before infection could set in, making their work much more simple. Still, there was only so much that even waterbender healing could do for a wound so deep, and from here all that could be done was let Luke rest and recover naturally.

"That's Luke," Sokka answered. "And I think he's learned his lesson about relying too much on blind faith in the Force. Maybe now he'll listen when someone tells him he has a bad idea."

"Ugh…"

Katara's wakening groans had her family's attention, and Gran-Gran was there to keep her calm. "It's okay sweetie. You're home."

Still exhausted and feeling weariness in her bones, Katara opened her eyes and saw her grandmother over her. "Gran-Gran? What… How…"

"You got us home," Sokka said. He saw his sister turn to him now. "You can rest now. You've certainly earned it."

Katara tried to sit up, but lacked the strength to do so, having to settle for putting another pillow beneath her head. "How bad is it out there?"

"Could be worse," Sokka said. He pointed a thumb at the window, where a view of the sky revealed streaks of light that were falling space debris. "I wouldn't want to be out there right now."

* * *

When the damage spread to the main reactor, the _Executor_ was finished.

The massive amount of power generated there was unleashed, all at once and without any form of containment. The result was a massive explosion that annihilated the rear half of the main section, destroying the engines in successive explosions, lighting up the black void of space. The bottom half of the command tower was torn to shreds, the rest hurled away by the explosion, separated from the front end of the main section. Both pieces were mangled beyond recognition, and they drifted through the void until they were snared in the gravity of Earth.

From the perspective of the escape pods, it was like the debris was following them. "Chewy, punch it as hard as you can in this rust-bucket!"

Chewbacca grumbled something loud and certainly obscene.

Han wished there was something he could do. "I know, I know, just get us out of here!"

All the other escape pods were trying the same thing, engaging in a mad dash to the safety of imperial installations on the planet. The mangled pieces of the _Executor_ were not far behind, pulled along by gravity toward Earth. The escape pods managed to outrace the debris around them, and they scattered as they approached the planet, set to crash land on all parts of the globe. The two larger pieces of the Super Star Destroyer drifted slightly to the left, with enough momentum to settle into orbit around Earth.

Except for Earth's moon being there.

The large pieces of the _Executor_ fell toward the moon instead of the planet, swinging around the side to the hemisphere facing Earth, coming down hard on the lunar surface. The remains of the command tower shattered on impact, scattering debris across a new crater. The half of the main section plowed through another crater, dug a long trench in the lunar soil, eventually coming to a stop with the pointed tip of the hull facing space. It was followed by a rain of debris from space, pummeling the remains of the imperial flagship, now settled into its final resting place.

One could see the impact from low Earth orbit, and Han had seen the whole thing. "Well… that's one less thing to worry about."

Chewbacca muttered something very depressing.

"I know Chewy, I know," Han muttered. Sure, this was a victory, but it came at a deeply personal cost. "Not worth losing the _Falcon_. Not worth it at all."


	44. Rule of Two

Chapter 44: Rule of Two

There was a disturbance in the Force.

It spread across the galaxy like a shockwave, starting at an insignificant corner of space and moving outward into the rest of the cosmos. The balance between light and dark, already leaning toward the latter, was knocked further off kilter. It was felt by everyone with even the slightest sensitivity to the Force, and all others had a gut feeling that something was wrong. Conflict intensified across the galaxy, all factions fighting fiercer than ever before, the very idea of peace being ignored. War would only get worse, until one side obliterated all others.

And at the epicenter was the little blue marble called Earth.

* * *

The stolen ship soaring through the blue void of hyperspace, Mara swore she saw a ripple in the void.

Something was terribly wrong, and she had a pretty good guess as to the cause. Mara left the ship on autopilot and stood up from the pilot's seat, walked over to the hatch behind it, and took a moment to listen. The banging on the other side had stopped a while ago, and she didn't hear any voices on the other side. It seemed that her captives had gone to sleep, having nothing else to do in there. She couldn't blame them, they had to have been exhausted after everything today, just as much if not more than Mara was right now.

Mara opened the hatch and stepped through, spotting Aang and Toph sleeping half a meter apart, and she jammed a foot into Aang's leg. "Wake up."

Aang startled to consciousness, and he looked up to see her standing over him. "Oh, now you come out. Care to tell why you brought us into hyperspace?"

How he could tell from this windowless chamber was something Mara would need answered later. "You really think your rebel friends would let Darth Vader's ship approach them? The _Executor_ was already suspecting something was amiss. Both sides would have shot us down if we stayed in the system."

Somehow, Aang wasn't satisfied with that. He sighed and rested his head against the wall. "So where are we going?"

Mara knew he wouldn't like that answer, so she didn't give it to him. "I'm more concerned about what we left behind. I heard you say a name when you were fighting Vader. Vaatu was it? You know what it is?"

The memory was fuzzy, it wasn't even his after all, but Aang could recall the gist of it. "A dark spirit, imprisoned long ago, with an axe to grind against the physical world."

"And… how exactly do you know this?" Mara asked.

"I'm not entirely certain myself," Aang admitted. "When I'm in the Avatar State, it's like all the other Avatars are in my mind with me. One of them knew this Vaatu, and whatever Vader wants with him, it can't be good for anyone."

Whatever that was, Mara figured it must have happened, given the bad feeling in her gut. So she turned around to return to the cockpit. "Then time is of the essence…"

* * *

At the center of his Empire, the Emperor was not happy.

He felt the disturbance in the Force, being well attuned to the Dark Side, and this was certainly the work of a powerful darkness. Part of it was familiar, recognized as the presence of his current apprentice, though warped by something else merged with his very soul. The other part felt like the very essence of the Force, a personification of the Dark Side itself, unlike anything he had ever felt before. He didn't know what Vader had come across, or what he had done to disturb the Force in this way, but it demanded that he take action.

Emperor Palpatine was in his private quarters, deep within the palace and very far from any prying eyes. Sitting in a comfortable chair and leaning over a computer terminal, he investigated the full extent of his apprentice's treachery from the comforts of home. Vader had attempted to cover-up his truce and rendezvous with the rebels at Earth, but it had been discovered by Palpatine's spies nevertheless. They had not discovered Vader's purpose in all of this, but the disturbance in the Force gave Palpatine a pretty good guess.

He was going to need a new apprentice. The current one was getting too ambitious for his own good.

Palpatine had been planning on replacing Vader anyway, but not quite this soon, and his preferred choice for a replacement was not ready. He had his eye on someone amidst the rebellion, someone he was certain he could turn to the Dark Side of the Force, but it appeared that Vader had gotten to the young Skywalker first. It seemed unlikely that he could recruit this young man now, so Palpatine would need someone else for his new apprentice. One candidate came to mind, provided that Vader hadn't discovered and killed her already.

Palpatine leaned back in his throne, closed his eyes and focused on the Force, searching for the presence of his Hand. It was a tricky thing, to sense a person's presence from across the galaxy, requiring great skill and power in the Force. He sensed her en route to him, and he was pleased to know she was alive. But he sensed something else with her, something strange and unsettling, though from so far away he couldn't get a clear picture of what she was escorting. It was certain to be interesting when she arrived, and he didn't want to wait any longer than necessary.

Palpatine pressed a button to contact the servant in charge of traffic around his palace. "Clear my personal landing pad. I am expecting company."

A young voice answered the call. _"As you wish my Lord."_

The call was ended, Palpatine stood up and walked toward the door, still disturbed by what he sensed in the Force. "Vader… what have you done?"

* * *

In a remote part of the galaxy, the last Jedi Master was disturbed from meditation.

Yoda had been going through his daily routine, midday being time to meditate and focus on the Force, and that was when he felt the disturbance. He felt the darkness spreading across the cosmos, unlike anything he had ever felt before. He didn't know what it was, or where it came from, but he was certain he could not ignore it. Yoda stood up, turned away from the little hut that was his home, and walked into the swamp with his cane in hand. There was a place he needed to visit, a dark place that concealed his light in the Force, sure to be strengthened by the disturbance.

It was a short walk to that hole in the ground, and a shorter climb down into the cave below. Yoda walked through the cave, stopping halfway through and resting his hands on his cane. "I am here. If the Force is to show me a vision, I am ready to see it."

The tree roots buried in the walls and ceiling seemed to grasp at Yoda, and a thick mist filled the air. Yoda ignored the roots, breathed in the mist, and kept his gaze forward. A figure appeared in the distance, slowly walking through the mist, shrouded in shadows that no eye could gaze into. It looked mechanical, but breathed like a living being, and had an otherworldly aura around it. Deep red eyes appeared on the figure, looking straight at Yoda, as if peering into his very soul. Yoda met that gaze, sensed the darkness within this figure, refusing to back down from it.

"It is not the Emperor," Yoda muttered. Yet he was not relieved to know that it was not the Sith Lord at work, for it meant another evil was growing stronger. "A rival then, to challenge the rule of two."

The otherworldly aura grew around the figure, stretching above to take on a shape of its own. It filled the space of the cave, with shadowy tentacles creeping along the walls, mingling with the roots all around Yoda. He stood his ground, letting the dark shapes surround him, not giving in to the fear of the darkness. The red eyes rose up and grew larger, reaching the ceiling of the cave and looking down on Yoda, as if to make him feel very small. Yoda closed his eyes, kept his mind clear, letting the darkness pass without being consumed by it.

When Yoda opened his eyes the cave was empty, everything appearing as it should be for an ordinary cave. He let out a breath and turned around, heading back to the entrance and climbing out, returning to the swamp above. The vision replayed in his mind all the way back, trying to make sense out of it. Yoda reached his home, stopped at the door, eyes closed and breathing in rhythm. Whatever the vision represented, Yoda knew he could not ignore it. Something had to be done, more than simply waiting for that student of his to return to Dagobah.

Yoda turned away from the hut, walked toward a part of the swamp he hadn't been to in years, having thought he would never need to use a spaceship again. "It's time to make a return."

* * *

Emerging from hyperspace in friendly territory, _Home One_ rejoined the rebel fleet.

Leia was not looking forward to it.

She had her report ready, and could imagine how the other rebel leaders would react to it. They were not going to be happy, having lost quite a few fighters, the entire delegation for the ill-conceived truce, and the _Millennium Falcon_. The silver lining of severely damaging the _Executor_ would help, but it wasn't enough to fill in that pit in Leia's gut. Otherwise the mission was a failure, and it had cost them several of the rebellion's most well renowned individuals. Morale was already falling, and only going to get worse as word of the loss spread.

Soon enough Admiral Ackbar and Mon Mothma were aboard _Home One_ and in the meeting room with Leia. They read through Leia's report, and Ackbar nodded as he finished. "So you never found out what Vader wanted with Luke?"

"I'm afraid not," Leia admitted. "But my gut says he got it, whatever it was."

"We need more than gut feelings," Mon Mothma said, still looking over the report.

"I know," Leia said. She sighed and set a hand on the table. "Our spies, not the bothan ones, need to get back there and see what's going on."

"That may prove difficult," Ackbar said. "As far as we know, the empire isn't sending more ships to Earth for quite some time. Until that changes, we won't be able to smuggle spies into the area."

Mon Mothma set down the report. "So you don't know where Luke and Katara went, Aang just up and disappeared, and Han is probably dead. That is a lot of our big guns that we just lost."

"Go ahead, say it, I know you want to," Leia said. "This entire mission was a mistake."

"Well… not entirely," Mon Mothma said. She passed over her own report to Leia. "It was a good distraction, kept the _Executor_ off our backs, and we've been able to secure resources for a new base."

"We even have a planet in mind," Ackbar added.

Skimming through the report, Leia came across that planet. "Never heard of this… D'Qar. Good, hopefully it's as obscure as it sounds. But that's beside the point."

"Yes, we're getting off track," Mon Mothma said. She turned her attention back to Leia's report. "Do you think the damage was enough to finish the _Executor_?"

Leia shrugged and threw up her hands. "Maybe, maybe not, I had to leave before it could happen. Either way, I think we have something worse to worry about."

* * *

For a moment, Vader simply stood and studied his current form.

It was strange to have flesh in his arms and legs again, even if it was fused with the machinery that had been his limbs. Breathing unassisted was a euphoric sensation, tasting the air as it rushed into his lungs. With one hand he grabbed the control panel on his chest and ripped it off, no longer needing it and tossing it away. He leaned to one side, cracked his arms and back, stretched to the other side and did the same, feeling limber and youthful again. His fingers ran over the top of his head, feeling the fuzz of new hair beginning to grow, not a trace of burned skin remaining.

But then Vader heard movement, and he turned toward the tree beneath the connected portals. It was where he left Ozai, and he saw him rising to his feet. Vader focused on the Force, the spirit world shifted around him, taking him straight to the tree and Ozai next to it. Up close he grabbed Ozai by the throat, and was tempted to snuff out his life then and there. But that could wait a few more minutes, now that he knew what Vaatu had in mind for the firebender. Ozai struggled against Vader's grip, but he had no chance of escaping it.

Vader threw Ozai to the ground, forced him onto his knees, and let go of Ozai's throat. He placed one hand on Ozai's chest, the other on the forehead, and focused on his newfound power. Vader's eyes glowed bright red, and Ozai felt pain that tore into his very soul. Yet it reminded him of being brought into hyperspace, where a vital part of his being was always ripped out, only far worse. The glow in Vader's eyes lasted a few moments, and then he let Ozai fall to the ground, yet the pain he felt remained.

Ozai tried to get up, threw a punch to firebend at Vader, only to fall backward instead, not even a wisp of smoke from his fingers. "What… What did you do to me?"

Holding up a fist, Vader opened his hand, and flames ignited in his palm. "Your power is mine now. Your usefulness has come to an end."

With a smirk on his face Vader turned his hand around, palm facing the helpless man before him, and fired a plume of flames from his hand. Ozai screamed as he was burned alive, though the screams only lasted a few short moments. All that remained was a charred skeleton, smoke billowing out from the few scraps of burned flesh left behind. Vader was quite pleased with the result, enjoying the ironic death far more than he knew he should, and all the possibilities presented to him. He turned away from the corpse and walked away, ready to leave this place behind.

* * *

After a trip that seemed to take far too long, the stolen ship emerged from hyperspace.

At first Mara wasn't certain what to expect, since this was Darth Vader's personal ship and should not be expected above Coruscant right now. She carefully piloted the ship through the crowded space around the Empire's capital planet, keeping her distance from the Star Destroyers on patrol. Yet they didn't request Vader's personal codes, which had Mara thinking something was amiss. But then she realized the most direct route to the imperial palace was clear, and only one man could arrange for express transit at the center of the Empire.

The Emperor was expecting her.

Mara flew the stolen ship toward the planet, passing through the atmosphere of the night side. From orbit all the lights from all the buildings glittered like the stars, like some fantastical crystal ball hanging in the void. The ship flew at a near perfect dive through the atmosphere, only pulling up at the altitude of the tallest skyscrapers, flying horizontal for the last few kilometers. The massive imperial palace was directly ahead, surrounded by patrol ships on constant guard. Those ships parted to let Vader's ship pass through, allowing access to the Emperor's personal landing pad.

Landing with the starboard side facing the palace, Mara shut off the engines and opened the inner hatch. "Alright you two, stand up. We're getting off here."

Having gotten some measure of sleep on the way here, Aang was about as rested as he could be, given the circumstances. "And where is here?"

"Coruscant," Mara answered. She made sure both Aang and Toph were awake and on their feet, then opened the outer hatch and gestured for them to exit first. "Don't make any sudden moves. Keep your mouth shut until told to speak. I'd rather not be ordered to kill you."

A little cranky from being woken up, Toph grunted and shrugged. "Uh-huh…"

The three of them climbed out of the ship and walked onto the landing pad, which aside from them was empty. Mara kept Aang and Toph in front of her, one hand on a blaster and the other on her lightsaber, making certain they knew she had weapons at their backs. They were barely halfway across the pad when the large doors to the palace opened, and there were three figures emerging from the darkness inside. Two of them were the crimson uniformed personal guards, the pikes they carried looking ceremonial yet functional, flanking the robed man in between them.

From what she felt in the vibrations, Toph could tell there was more to this shriveled old man than he seemed. "So we get to meet the boss after all…"

"Quiet," Mara whispered. "That's the Emperor. You will show respect."

The two groups of three met just outside the palace, and the Emperor observed the prisoners brought by his servant. "Report."

* * *

With a decision made by the rebel leaders, the fleet prepared for a trip to hyperspace.

The coordinates of their destination were sent to the captains of every ship, all of them eager to get underway. Word of a new base in the works spread like wildfire, though the details of where they were going were kept secret. It certainly helped to improve morale, and the crewmen were glad to be going anywhere but back to Hoth. The ships were moved into formation, permitting the entire fleet to make the jump, once the order was given. However, just before they could get into hyperspace, something else came out of it.

Looking at it through the viewscreen, Leia saw the problem. "Does anyone recognize that ship?"

It was a very small ship that just arrived, seemingly with an impeccable sense of timing, as if expecting the fleet's imminent departure. It appeared to be a one-man vessel, smaller than even an X-Wing. The design was spherical with narrow wings bolted onto the sides, very minimalistic and seemingly without weapons or shields. And it was almost completely covered in moss, except for patches burned off by engines and thrusters, as if it had been left in some damp wilderness for decades and only now brought out of storage.

Receiving no proper answers from the bridge crew, there was only one course for Leia to take. "Well what are you waiting for? Fire up the tractor beam and bring that ship into the hangar."

Leia made the trip down there while the officers worked, reaching the hangar just as the little ship was being brought inside. She got to watch it pass through the atmospheric force fields, and the tractor beam set it down on the hangar floor. Up close Leia got to see it with her own eyes, and the ship appeared to be in even worse condition. Underneath all the moss and bits of vines was a hull corroded with rust, and Leia wondered how it was even remotely space-worthy. Crewmen were surrounding this little ship, and Leia approached just as the cockpit opened.

Inside was a small green man, old beyond recognition, like the ship. "Don't shoot, I mean you no harm."

There were several blasters pointed at him, and Leia pushed one away with her hand. "Stand down. I highly doubt he's from the Empire. Well, not in this decrepit craft anyway."

"Yes, listen to her," the green old man said. "She is wise beyond her years."

Not certain of that, Leia wondered why he would make that claim. "Who are you?"

The green old man came out of his ship, wooden cane in hand as he walked over to Leia. "I am Yoda."

"Yoda…" Leia repeated, recognizing the name. "Luke was training under you, right?"

"He was," Yoda said.

"Well then you came to the wrong place," Leia said. "Luke isn't here."

"So he isn't," Yoda said. By now he was right in front of Leia, resting his hands on his cane. "Then I must be here for someone else, wouldn't you think?"

"Then why are you here?" Leia asked.

Yoda smiled as he looked up at her. "I'm sure you would want to hear it in private, of course."

Leia had a gut feeling that would be true. "Right this way."

* * *

As Vader approached the northern portal, the arch of golden light was severed, returning the portals to their separate pillars of light.

He paid it no mind, having expected it to happen sooner or later, now that he didn't need to hold the portals together with the Force. Vader walked into the portal and vanished within it, reappearing in its counterpart in the material plane. The cold hit him immediately, feeling it for the first time in decades, and Vader took in a deep breath of the frigid artic air. The sky was much brighter than he remembered, and it wasn't because he was using his own eyes now. Brilliant aurora filled the night sky, stretching beyond the horizon in every direction, far brighter than any aurora should be.

But then the aurora began to fade, from directly above the portal and spreading across the sky. Vader closed his eyes and reached out with the Force, sensing the power within the fading aurora, realizing the connection it had with the portals. Joining them had affected the material plane, and letting them come apart had reversed the effects. Soon this world would return to normal, or what passed for it in this backwater part of the galaxy. It didn't matter, not when Vader had what he wanted, the portals could be closed for all he cared.

It was time to leave.

Vader walked down the path through the forest, which seemed to be more alive than it was just a few hours ago. The trees were covered in freshly grown leaves, the bushes were packed with flowers in full bloom, and small animals frolicked in the foliage. He figured this place fed on the energies from the portal, and had more to draw upon now that the portal was open. It didn't matter to him anyway, and he kept walking until he reached the edge of the forest, where the cold intensified as he stepped on ice and snow.

By now the aurora had returned to normal, and the stars peeked through the colorful bands of light. Vader stopped and looked at the sky, eyes squinting as he searched for something in particular, which seemed to be missing. The _Executor_ should have been visible from here, if as a point of light brighter than any star, yet it wasn't where it was supposed to be. Instead there were many smaller lights streaking across the southern sky, easily mistaken for a meteor shower, but Vader had a feeling it was something far worse.

And then Vader looked for something that should be just outside the forest. "Where is my ship?"

* * *

While his servant told him of her experience on Earth, Emperor Palpatine studied the two captives.

He could sense the power that resided deep within the teenage boy Aang, not hampered in the slightest by the severed hand. It reeked with the Light Side of the Force, yet it was nothing like any Jedi. By comparison the young lady Toph was of little importance, though Palpatine did recognize the name from the reports of her short time in imperial captivity. Learning that she could create lava and control impure metals in addition to commanding earth was intriguing, but something to delve into at a later time.

And then there was the subject of Vader's treachery, which concerned Palpatine most of all. "You didn't follow him into this portal?"

"I did not," Mara admitted, even if it might seem like a failure on her part. "I'm no match for Vader. Following blindly would have just gotten me killed."

"Yes, surely," Palpatine said. He looked at Aang again. "Yet this boy was able to fight him. Perhaps a demonstration is in order?"

Aang didn't say a word, merely looking down and covering the stump with his hand.

"Hmm…" Palpatine muttered. He raised a hand and stretched out his fingers, pointing all of them at Aang. "You really should speak when spoken to."

With a jerk of his fingers, Palpatine called on the Force, and lightning shot from his fingertips. Thin arcs of purple electricity coiled around each other, struck Aang right in the chest, and he was knocked off his feet. Aang fell to the cold metal floor of the landing pad, his body twitching while purple sparks crackled around him. But the pain was temporary, as Palpatine intended with this short burst of Force Lightning, usually enough to get his victims to comply. Yet Aang seemed to recover more quickly than most, already rising to his feet, eyes narrowing as his gaze met Palpatine's.

Aang held his hand close to his chest. "You call that lightning? I've seen better."

Incensed by that remark, Palpatine spread his fingers further apart. "Doubtful."

He unleashed more Force Lightning from his fingers, filling the air between him and Aang with violet electricity. But then Aang reached forward, as if to catch the lightning, and catch it he did. Aang had two fingers pointed, and the lightning passed through them into his arm, yet it did not inflict any pain. Instead the lightning followed his arm, went around his heart, and pooled in his gut, held there by unconventional use of firebending. Palpatine didn't see this of course, his view of Aang obscured by his own Force Lightning.

Not hearing any painful screams this time, Palpatine held up his other hand, unleashing more Force Lightning from it. Aang held his stance and kept his focus, sweating as he struggled to maintain the redirection firebending. Mara could see what he was doing, and she had a very bad feeling about this. Toph was inching away from everyone else, well aware of the dangers and not wanting to get struck by mistake. Still not getting the desired reaction, Palpatine stopped making the Force Lightning, and now he could see Aang almost wreathed in electricity.

Unable to use his wounded arm for his, Aang redirected the lightning back up the same arm it came in through. He unleashed the lightning in one short burst, aimed right back at Palpatine, and spreading out toward his guards as well. All three of them were hit by the redirected lightning, the guards were knocked off their feet, and even Palpatine recoiled in pain. Aang was finished in a short moment, and his arm was numb from electricity flowing in both directions. Now the electricity was crackling around Palpatine, and the guards, and the Emperor was most furious.

Toph was already running, and the scooped up Aang in her arms, glad she had the muscle to do it. "I hope you've got airbending back in you, because we need to fly."

Mara was chasing after them. "Get back here right now!"

It was too late, Toph had already reached the edge of the landing pad, overruling her fear of heights to jump off the edge. She and Aang were falling through open air, and Mara could only watch from the edge unable to follow safely. It was a fifty story drop to the base of the palace, with nothing between them and a hard impact at the bottom. Aang recovered feeling in his arm, and he started airbending with it and his legs, forming a sphere of wind beneath him and Toph. The ball of wind carried them away from the palace, soon disappearing behind nearby skyscrapers.

By then Palpatine had recovered and walked to the edge, and he turned toward Mara. "I trust you did not know he could do that."

* * *

It was a long trip through hyperspace, but worth it to check out a possible planet for a new base.

The fleet arrived in a remote system, far removed from the nearest civilization. Typical star, three planets, moderate asteroid belt, mostly typical as solar systems went. The exception was the third planet, which had extensive rings around its equator, a rare feature for terrestrial worlds. Those rings cast large shadows on the tropical latitudes, lush with forests and shallow seas, likely filled with all kinds of vicious creatures that called this planet home. It looked like a suitable place to set up shop, though any planet would do at this point.

During the trip Leia had brought Yoda to her quarters, wanting privacy while dealing with the old man. "Alright, mister Yoda, why are you really here?"

Yoda walked over to the wall and rested his back against it. "Surely you are aware. A greater threat is coming, only a matter of time before it is unleashed upon the galaxy."

"This wouldn't have anything to do with Earth, would it?" Leia asked.

"Aang's world, I believe so, yes," Yoda said.

Leia groaned at that confirmation, shaking her head while putting a hand to her face. "That planet has been nothing but trouble ever since the Empire found it."

"And it will only be worse," Yoda said. "I cannot remain in exile any longer, not while this ancient darkness spreads across the galaxy. My student is beyond my reach, and I am not powerful enough to face this threat. I must pass my knowledge on to another, before the darkness consumes us all."

"If what Luke told me about you is true, it must be truly dire if you can't get to him," Leia said. She sat down in a chair and leaned forward. "I presume it is not a coincidence you managed to find me."

"Of course," Yoda said. "Luke spoke highly of you, and I have every reason to believe it, if you are anything like your father."

"You knew Dad?" Leia asked. "I never thought a lowly senator was worth the attention of such a famous Jedi master."

"Organa was a close friend," Yoda said, though there was a twinge of guilt in his voice. "When the Republic fell, he was one of the few allies I could trust. And I see he kept that trust by keeping the secret of my exile."

"Uh-huh…" Leia muttered. "Well I'm not sure how well I'll be able to help you with finding a new student. Luke was the only one in the rebellion who could do the things he did."

Yoda chuckled a bit. "Now that is a matter of perspective, depending on your point of view."

* * *

Needing answers for what happened during his absence, Vader reached for the sky with one hand.

He focused on the Force, and the power within him, joining them together to grasp at the heavens. His eyes glowed red, and through the Force he snared one of the moving points of light in the sky, changing its course and bringing it toward him instead. As the point of light came closer Vader could see what it truly was, an imperial escape pod recently jettisoned, one with deserters inside fearing for their lives. Vader made the pod slow down, turned it around so that its hatch faced him, and set it down on the tundra nearby.

With a wave of his hand Vader tore the hatch clean off the pod, tossing it far away to crash in the snow. There were two imperial officers and a stormtrooper inside, all of them startled by what was going on, none of them recognizing Vader in his new appearance. He didn't need them to understand, and wasn't in the mood to wait for a lengthy explanation of events. Vader pulled one of them to him with the Force, grabbed the officer by the forehead, fingers clenching tight on the man's scalp. Eyes glowing red, reaching out with the Force, Vader took what he needed from the poor man's mind.

Once he was finished Vader dropped the man, and he looked at all the other lights moving across the sky. "So the _Executor_ has fallen."

That was certainly a setback, in just about every sense of the word. It was the flagship of the imperial fleet, and losing it would be a massive blow to morale. It was also Vader's preferred ship in his missions across the galaxy, few others could compare to the _Executor_. More importantly was that he needed such a ship to fulfill his plans, and all the subordinates that were required for running the Empire. It was going to take time to arrange for a replacement, especially once the Emperor realized exactly what he was doing.

Still, while this would be a significant delay, it was not an insurmountable one for Vader, taking the first steps to the nearest imperial outpost. "It seems you will have some time to prepare, _Master_ …"

* * *

Emperor Palpatine returned to the interior of the palace, leaving behind the embarrassment at the landing pad.

Mara had expected him to be furious, given that Aang had turned back the Force against him. Yet Palpatine was strangely calm, as if impressed by the act, or more concerned about other matters that demanded his attention. He brought Mara deep into the palace, into the throne room kept perpetually shrouded in darkness, and took his seat on his throne. There he dismissed his guards, having no need for them, but kept Mara in the throne room. She stood in front of the Emperor, keeping silent while he contemplated the situation, until he looked Mara in the eyes.

"Do you believe this Avatar can be turned to the Dark Side?" Palpatine asked.

"No, I do not," Mara answered. "If what Aang told me is true, Vader sought the Dark Side counterpart to his unique power. I believe Aang is inherently unable to be turned because of this."

"Yes, I see…" Palpatine said, returning to deep thoughts and contemplation. After focusing on the Force for a time, he looked at Mara again. "It seems that I am in need of a new apprentice. I had hoped to recruit the young Skywalker, but he is not yet ready to replace Vader."

Mara kept silent, patiently waiting until he directly asked something of her.

Palpatine leaned back, folded his hands, and smiled. "My dear, surely you know the answer to this dilemma? You have performed well as my Hand. I believe you will be even better as my apprentice."

* * *

 _A/N: Whelp, it's that time again for another hiatus/time skip. I'm hoping it will be the last one, the next arc needs to be the last one if I'm ever going to finish this story. But if it's any consolation, I've got a miniseries that is finally ready to upload in the meantime. In two weeks we're going back to DBZ with another crossover, set during the seven year time skip between Cell and Buu, The Saiyan Pilgrimage.  
_


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